Hello dear readers! Welcome to today’s Stories from Catbird Cottage. I’ve got a simple-but-glorious dish to add to your Easter menu this weekend. This is one of those recipes that you can accomplish in the background as you attend to all the final prep items, and it will bring wow to the table when everything is ready. It’s also great because every element can be made in advance (and also eaten warm or at room temp). Lastly - and most importantly - this dish is deeply delicious.
Enter bagna cauda, a garlic-anchovy sauce hailing from the Piedmont region in Italy. It derives its oomph from simple ingredients: garlic, olive oil, and anchovies, and literally translates to “warm bath”. Bagna cauda is traditionally served in an earthenware bowl and kept warm, set over embers or other heat source. This version attests that residually warm or room temperature is a-okay. Variations can also include the addition of butter or walnuts for further richness. At its foundation, the sauce brings velvety-salty-umami to anything onto which you spoon or dunk it.
I think of bagna cauda as a sibling to garlic confit and anchovy butter, and equally easy to make. Simmer the garlic in water until it is just tender, a step which makes it easier to mash or purée the cloves once they have confit-ed in the olive oil. If the garlic is only cooked in the olive oil it would require a longer duration to render the cloves tender, which also risks them frying. Frying makes them crispy, and therefore less easy to mash or blend.
You may serve the traditional crudités alongside bagna cauda, but here I’ve decided to pair the luscious sauce with steamed beets, toothsome farro, and chopped pistachios. Feel free to roast the beets if that is your preference. I have been steaming them of late - for expediency, mostly - and relishing in their earthy sweetness as such. You may also opt to swap the pistachios for chopped toasted walnuts or almonds - any will be delicious. Chopped parsley or a scatter of bittercress would be a pleasant brightening element if you have them, but not necessary.
Beets + bagna cauda with pistachios + farro
simple, sunny, and damn delicious
farro
1 cup farro
2 cups water
kosher salt
extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
bagna cauda
1 head garlic (about 11 cloves), remove the inner germ if it is green
11 anchovies
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
beets + assembly
5-7 colorful beets, peeled and cut into hearty wedges
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
Add the farro and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover with its lid, turn heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and the grains are chewy-tender. Remove farro from the heat and keep the lid in place.
In a large saucepan with a steamer basket placed at the bottom, add in the beets and 1 inch of water. Cover and steam on high heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the beets are tender when pierced with a thin sharp knife. Set aside.
Cook the garlic in a small saucepan in simmering water until tender - about 10 minutes. Strain the cloves, wipe the pan dry, and pour in the olive oil. Add the garlic back to the pan, plus the anchovies, and bring to a low boil. Lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Stir after a minute or so to dissolve the anchovies, then simmer the mixture for 10 minutes or until garlic is very tender. Test by pressing a clove with the back of a fork along the side of the pan.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool slightly. Using an immersion blender, blend the elements until smooth and uniform. Pour the sauce into an appropriate serving bowl. Once served at the table, the tendency will be for the oil to separate, so offer it with a spoon to stir and reincorporate as people serve themselves.
Add a pinch of salt to the farro and a drizzle of oil, and stir together. Spoon the farro onto a serving platter. Arrange the beets on top and generously spoon the bagna cauda to coat all. Shower with pistachios and enjoy!
After developing this recipe I have some bagna cauda leftover. I’ve been adding it to salad greens, spooning it onto fried eggs, and slathering it on toast. So versatile, so good.
If you’re looking to add another dish - whether for Easter, or just something that feels special - perhaps one of these will make your day just right.
Rhubarb + rye crêpes
Miso butter + custardy scrambled eggs