Perfect dish for fall: A creamy sauce inspired by traditional bagna cauda with porcini mushrooms and salad.
Course sides, snack, starter
Prep Time 20minutes
Cook Time 20minutes
Total Time 40minutes
Servings 2
Ingredients
Bagna Cauda:
15-20garlic clovesyes, really peeled and deveined
10filets of anchovyideally salt-packed
About 200 g of milk
200golive oil
Seared Porcini Mushrooms:
2tbspolive oil
Fresh cepsporcini, cleaned
2sprigs rosemary
2sprigs thyme
Salt
20gbutter
Salad:
juice of ½ lemon
2tbspwhite balsamic
a good pinch of flaky salt
pepper
4tbspolive oil
1tbsphazelnut oiloptional, but nice
bitter salad leavesWe used mizuna but arugula or watercress is also great
a handful toasted hazelnutscoarsely chopped
Instructions
To make the bagna cauda:
If using salt-packed anchovies, rinse and let them swim one last time in a small water bowl for about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic, about a third of the milk, and enough water to cover the garlic in a small saucepan. Gently bring to a boil, drain, discarding the milk. Repeat twice; the third time, continue cooking until the garlic is completely soft before discarding the milk.
Add the garlic, anchovies, and about a third of the olive oil, and saute until the anchovies break down. Transfer into a tall jug and blend with a stick blender while streaming the rest of the oil.
You might need to add a splash of water to get to a smooth, creamy consistency.
For the porcini mushrooms:
Heat the oil in a pan, add the mushrooms, and cut the side down. Add the rosemary and thyme. Saute on medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Add the butter and move it around to make sure everybody gets some. After about a minute, the mushrooms should be well browned, turn them and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, pushing them to one side and tilting the pan so they bathe in butter.
Remove from the pan.
For the salad:
Whisk all together, and toss in the mizuna leaves.
To plate:
Spread 2-3 tbsp of the bagna cauda on a plate. Arrange the cops on top, add the mizuna and sprinkle over the hazelnuts.