If you’ve never sampled bagna cauda, get ready to fall in love. In his cookbook, Milk Street Shorts, culinary icon Christopher Kimball explains the appeal of the Italian favorite: “Made with garlic, anchovies, butter and olive oil, bagna cauda is a savory dip from Piedmont, Italy.” He also dubs it “the original Italian flavor bomb.” Typically, you’d enjoy this delectable spread by dipping raw or cooked veggies into the concoction. But Kimball has a straightforward and delicious riff on this classic that involves your sheet pan and one eternally trendy vegetable.
“It’s a perfect pairing with Brussels sprouts that have been blistered and charred on a sizzling-hot baking sheet,” Kimball writes. You’ll simply toss those warm sprouts in the bagna cauda, then enjoy. Oh, and be prepared for some glorious leftovers: “This recipe makes about 2⁄3 cup bagna cauda, more than you will need to sauce and serve with the sprouts. Leftovers keep well refrigerated in an airtight container for one to two weeks. Rewarm before use.”
Which means you can experiment with dribbling warm bagna cauda on whatever else is lying around your fridge. And we’re prepared to meet that challenge.
Bagna Cauda Brussels Sprouts
START to FINISH: 40 minutes
SERVINGS: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 1⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 10 to 12 oil-packed anchovies (from a 2-ounce can), roughly chopped
- 12 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 3⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 11⁄2 to 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved if small to medium or quartered if larger than 1 inch in diameter
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons slivered almonds
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 500°F with a rimmed baking sheet on the upper-middle rack. In a small saucepan over medium, heat the butter, 1⁄4 cup oil, anchovies, garlic and pepper flakes until the butter melts.
- Reduce to low and cook, stirring, until the garlic is golden and the anchovies dissolve, 15 to 20 minutes; if needed, increase the heat slightly to maintain slow, gentle bubbling. Off heat, stir in the lemon juice; cover and set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven. Empty the sprouts onto the hot baking sheet; use tongs to arrange the sprouts cut side down; reserve the bowl. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the almonds onto the baking sheet, then roast until the sprouts are spottily charred and a skewer inserted into the centers meets just a little resistance, another 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately scrape the sprouts and almonds into the bowl. Add 1⁄3 cup of the sauce and toss. Taste and season with salt and black pepper. Transfer to a platter and serve with the remaining sauce on the side.
Excerpted from MILK STREET SHORTS by Christopher Kimball. Copyright © 2025 by CPK Media,
LLC. Photograph by Joe Murphy. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown
and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
