When I was writing Under The Olive Tree I totally forgot about this way of cooking even though my baked beans dish (Gigantes) is exactly that. A delicious dish once you have gone through the pain of desalinating the cod.
I baked the potatoes in their skins at the same time I baked 2 sweet potatoes to make some garlic sauce, because baking intensifies the flavour of the potato itself, but you could chop the potatoes in small cubes and add them to the saucepan at the same time as the celery in which case they will take lots of flavour from the other ingredients.
Follow the instructions that come with the cod to de-salt it. You can however make this delicious meal with fresh cod or haddock.
Ingredients (serves 5-6 persons)
- 6 salted cod fillets (weighing 400g in total after de-salting)
- 2 medium sized potatoes
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
- 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 small red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely sliced
- 100ml dry white wine
- 150ml passata
- 230g tomatoes, thinly sliced or cut in small dice
- 1 tsp vegetable bouillon
- 2 bay leaves
- A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
- 1 lemon cut in thin slices, plus a squeeze of juice to drizzle
- 1 tsp oregano
Method
Preheat the oven to 2000C.
Bake the two potatoes until soft. Depending on the size and type of potato this could take up to 70 minutes. When the potatoes are cooked, take out of the oven, leave to cool, peel and slice.
Bring a sauteing pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and sweat for 4-5 minutes. Add the celery and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic and chilli. Cook for a couple of minutes more and add the white wine. Let the wine evaporate and add the passata, fresh tomato, bouillon and bay leaves and bring to the boil. Lower the heat immediately, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and cover and cook until the sauce has thickened and all the vegetables are soft, approx. 20 minutes. Add the chopped parsley and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Wash and pat dry the cod fillets. Place them in an oven proof dish. Squeeze some lemon over the fillets and season with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Top the cod with the potato slices and spoon the contents of the saucepan over the potatoes. Finish with the sliced lemon, dried oregano and a little olive oil.
Bake for 40-45 minutes.