Great Salad: Avocado w/ Bagna Cauda


Ah, bagna cauda.
Such a delicious treat.

Bagna Càuda means "hot bath" in Italian, and is a Piemontese dip made with good anchovies, good olive oil and garlic.
Mario Batali adds milk to his recipe, but I have not tried it that way.

I posted this recipe years back to serve with raw vegetables, cauliflower, fennel and celery being the verdura of choice.

Melissa Clark recently posted this recipe for a Bagna Cauda dressing over arugula and avocado in the New York Times.
I was curious.

I thought the arugula would not hold up to the meaty warm anchovy dressing, so I served the dressing over Romaine lettuce and sliced endive spears.

The warm anchovy dressing over the avocado was a home run. This is an addictive salad.
If you love Caesar salad, then you will love this one even more.

Yum.


Salad w/ Bagna Cauda & Avocado (adapted from the NY Times):

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 anchovies, finely chopped
1 very large garlic clove, minced
large pinch kosher salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
black pepper
3 cups of Romaine lettuce & endive spears, sliced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

In a small skillet over medium heat, warm the oil. Add anchovies and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until anchovies melt into the oil, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.



Remove from heat and whisk in salt, vinegar and pepper.

Let cool to room temperature.

In a serving bowl, toss arugula with just enough dressing to coat. Season well with black pepper. In a smaller bowl, very gently toss avocado with more of the dressing (you may not need it all). Add avocado to arugula and very gently combine.



Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Pin It

Comments

Kathy Walker said…
Mmmm...sounds very nice. I am not much for anchovies but I do like Caesar salad so maybe just a hint would work for me. I love arugula and combined with avocado...yum!
Anonymous said…
Raw garlic & anchovies - you have the digestion of champions, Ms. Snacks. Primo avocado there. I've been having luck with them at the market lately myself.
Ciao Chow Linda said…
Well there's something novel I'd never have considered, but why not? Bagna cauda is a favorite but I rarely make it; however, I've got anchovies, I've got avocados and I've got arugula, so here I come to make this recipe.
All I can find in MT are the tinned anchovies....I'll try with them. I was jealous over your nice looking jar. Last night I was reading Nigella and she makes a pasta sauce with onions and lots of anchovies...adding some milk. So I'm ready for anchovies in a big way!
Amanda said…
Just made this for lunch...wow, is it a winner! Awesome, Stacey. Let's keep on this pro-anchovy campaign. Love it!