Whenever people ask me what a common Portuguese dish is, I often say bacalhau, which directly translates as cod. This dish is so common that there are actually hundreds of varieties. This particular kind is called Bacalhau à Espanhola. Yes, I realize I am telling you this is a Portuguese dish when the recipe I’m sharing with you is called Spanish Cod….
Aside from fish n’ chips, this marine creature tends to get neglected in western cuisine, which is why I’m bringing a little bit of Portugal to you today. It’s a super satisfying dish with a mix of salty and sweet flavours between the olives, salted cod and cherry tomatoes. It does take planning, and salted cod fish isn’t something you can readily buy at your supermarket (you can find it at any Portuguese deli, and perhaps Italian ones too), but this classic Portuguese dish is worth trying. Especially if you’re hungry cause it will fill you up fast. Hello protein!
- 1½ lb Salted Cod Fish, deboned
- 1 lb yellow potatoes
- 6 eggs
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (any plain variety will do)
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 1 can chickpeas
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup green olives
- Cut the cod fish into squares and soak in water overnight, changing the water 3-4 times.
- Next day: boil the cod fish for 15 minutes, then remove cod from water and set aside. When it's cool shred it into smaller pieces, about the size of your thumb.
- Peel and boil whole potatoes in the same water the cod fish was boiled in. Cook only until halfway done. Put aside.
- Hard boil 6 eggs. You can do this with the potatoes or separately.
- While the potatoes boil - in a large frying pan, add ¾ cup olive oil, onion, garlic, parsley and hot pepper sauce. Simmer until tender then set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Place all olive oil ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Mix in one can of tomato paste.
- Slice the potato and eggs.
- In a 9x12 dish, layer the ingredients as such: potatoes, codfish, chickpeas olives and tomatoes, egg, sauce. Repeat once, always finishing with sauce on top.
- Cook for 30-40 minutes at 325F
I feel like I must warn you though, if you’re planning to cook this for your family with little ones, they may not appreciate it very much. I grew up on this dish and always ate as little as I could get away with. The cod and olives are incredibly flavours that mix beautifully to the adult’s palate, but not so much to a child’s. Of course you can always skip the olives for the kids’ sake
(….how sad).
If you’ve never had it would you be willing to try?
