These toasts rank among the best things I’ve made in a long time. They’re all about layering and balancing bold flavors, which come together in a ridiculously good way. The bagna cauda dressing is loosely based on the one in Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book. It’s tempting to just whisk together all of the ingredients, but cooking the garlic and anchovy briefly in olive oil and butter tames the anchovies’ fishiness and the garlic’s bite. Tossing the shredded radicchio and arugula with pecorino before applying the dressing – a nod to Toro Bravo’s Radicchio Salad with Manchego Vinaigrette on this site – makes it adhere better. Probably my favorite thing is how the warm dressing slackens the radicchio and arugula and coats the slices of egg and avocado. The shaved celery may seem superfluous, but it's the perfect foil to the richness of the other ingredients. You can get a lot of mileage from this recipe: serve crostini style at a dinner party, call them tartines if you’re feeling fancy for a light lunch or dinner, pile the salad high between two slices of bread for a sandwich, or serve as a plated salad with toast on the side. Whatever you do, just make plenty because you'll find yourself sneaking bites before it ever hits the plate.

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