Valentine’s Day Recipe: Bagna Cauda

Valentine’s Day is just a week away and this weekend on the show we share lots of V-Day worthy food ideas from 99 cent chocolate roses to this more heart-felt recipe for homemade Bagna Cauda. This recipe comes from Linda de Villers, a local psychologist and sex therapist and the author of the book Simple Sexy Food.

The name Bagna Cauda translates directly to “hot bath” and if that alone isn’t steamy enough for you she says that bagna cauda is the perfect food “to feed each other while brushing up on your flirtatious love talk.” It can be eaten on the floor (hint: in front of the fire) and is eaten with your hands. Think of it as the Italian equivalent to fondue.

And most importantly, this recipe is relatively simple and low-stress. Linda reminds us in the outtake below that anxiety is not sexy. Make dishes that you are comfortable with so you can spend less time fussing over the stove and more time doting on your special someone.

Keep reading for the recipe and “simple sexy kitchen tips” from Linda…

Bagna Cauda (Hot Bath)

Reprinted from Simple Sexy Food by Linda de Villers

With this simple, colorful appetizer, you and your lover dip your own favorite array of raw vegetables into a shared fondue pot of bold, bubbling butter and oil. The amazing flavor of the “bath” comes from the addition of anchovies and garlic.

Features seafood (anchovies), garlic, a variety of vegetables with aphrodisiac reputations—asparagus, artichoke, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini

1 to 2 cups bite-sized pieces of assorted fresh vegetables per serving, such as thin asparagus; mushrooms with stems (for easy dunking); grape or cherry tomatoes with stems (eat just the juicy red portion!); broccoli and cauliflower florets; red or white cabbage chunks; small carrots; thin green beans; cooked and cooled artichoke leaves; zucchini; yellow crookneck squash; bell peppers

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter

1/4 cup olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 (2-ounce) can flat anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped

1 fresh baguette, cut on the diagonal into 1/4-inch slices

1. Wash, dry, and cut the selected vegetables as needed. Attractively arrange them on a large platter or lazy Susan. (If desired, you may prepare the vegetables up to 8 hours in advance; store them in plastic bags or wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Just before using, sprinkle lightly with water.)

2. In a fondue pot or similar heatproof pot, mix the butter, oil, garlic, and anchovies. Place the pot on a stove burner, and heat and stir the mixture until it bubbles.

3. Set the pot over fondue holder with lighted candle or canned heat, such as Sterno. Keep the flame low enough that the mixture does not overheat and burn.

4. Place the vegetable platter and sliced bread next to the fondue pot.

5. To eat, use one hand to swirl a piece of vegetable through the hot sauce. In the other hand, hold a piece of bread and use it like a napkin under the vegetable to catch sauce drips as you lift it from the sauce. With repeated use, the bread piece, infused with sauce drippings, becomes another tasty morsel.

Sauce for 8 servings

Simple Sexy Kitchen Tip

Refrigerate any leftover bagna

cauda. It can be reheated for a

second use, tossed with cooked

pasta, or used for a great variation

to traditional garlic bread.

Love Skills

Heat up the conversation between

you and your lover as you dip raw

veggies into a shared, hot bubbly

bowl of BagnaCauda. Take this

opportunity to feed each other

while brushing up on your flirtatious

love talk.

Aphrodite Says

Ever since Aphrodite rose from

sea foam, the bounty of the sea

has accounted for many of the

most revered aphrodisiacs. The

sea’s vastness, its salty, fertile

abundance, and even its mysterious

depths contribute both fact

and fantasy to the lore. Regardless,

the sea’s contributions to sexy food

are many, varied and swimmingly

delicious!