Yesterday Kim and I had the delightful honor of going to Sunday dinner at Rita's daughter's home. Stephania, her husband Alessandro and daughter Chiara live in a beautifully restored third floor unit within our complex. Rita did the cooking and it was a multiple course mid-day main meal. Our appetizer was a very typical Piemontese anchovy and garlic dipping sauce called, "Peperoni Con Bagna Caoda". Its origins are from a merging of Ligurian traders bringing in anchovies and olive oil to be combined with garlic grown in Piemonte. The result: a yummy dipping sauce that can be served as a dip with raw veggies, or as in this case, atop roasted peppers. The recipe consists of anchovies, garlic, olive oil, melted butter and a bit of cream! The garlic, olive oil and butter are all initially sauteed together and both Rita and Stephania kept emphasizing "do not blacken the garlic; low heat--that's the secret". Mashed anchovies are then added. A Bit of cream can be added to cut some of the garlic strength or one can cook the garlic heads in milk for awhile prior to sauteing.
There are some great sites for Italian cooking and all three listed below have variations of the appetizer. A bit of warning, it is filling so strategize how much you want guests to indulge. It also goes very well with bruschetta!
http://italianfood.about.com
www.deliciousitaly.com
www.italianmade.com
The remainder of the meal consisted of very tender thin slices of pork baked in a white sauce with walnuts and roasted potatoes with bread and wine. Dessert was a pear banana cake and an assortment of cookies (and coffee) were offered as well. We had great dinner conversation, learned about their views of Italy's economy and the initial impact of the Euro upon the Lira when it was first introduced (not good).
So that was yesterday. Good food, good company and conversation. And, oh, a very good nap.
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