Crusted Cod with Tartare Sauce
TARTARE SAUCE
3 cornichons
1 heaped teaspoon small capers
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 a 30g tin of anchovy fillets in oil
1 lemon
1/2 a 400g jar of good-quality mayonnaise
sweet paprika, for dusting
COD
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 x 600g (or 6 x 180g) fillets of cod, skin on, scaled and pin-boned
200g chunk of white crusty bread
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 a 30g tin of anchovy fillets in oil
1/2 a 280g jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
a small bunch of fresh basil
1/2–1 fresh red chilli
40g Parmesan cheese
1 lemon
balsamic vinegar
a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
COD Put a few good lugs of olive oil into a large roasting tray, sprinkle with salt & pepper and scatter over a teaspoon of fennel seeds. Rub and toss the fish fillets in the flavours, then place skin side down. Drizzle with olive oil, then put in oven gas mark six for 5 minutes while you make the topping. Roughly chop the bread and add to the food processor. Whiz, adding 2 peeled cloves of garlic with a drizzle of oil from the tin of anchovies as it’s whizzing, then tip the breadcrumb mixture into a bowl. Put half the tin of anchovy fillets into the empty food processor with the drained sun-dried tomatoes, 2 cloves of peeled garlic, basil, chilli (stalk removed) and the chunk of Parmesan. Finely grate in the zest from the lemon, then squeeze in the juice. Add a couple of splashes of balsamic vinegar and whiz to a paste. You may need to scrape round the sides between whizzes. Get the fish out of the oven. Spoon and spread this paste over each fillet in a thick even layer, then scatter over the breadcrumbs. Drizzle a little olive oil over the thyme and rosemary sprigs, then lay on top of the two fillets and put back under the grill on the middle shelf for 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
TARTARE SAUCE Quickly rinse out the food processor and add 3 cornichons, a heaped teaspoon of capers, a small bunch of fresh parsley and half the tin of anchovies and their oil. Pulse a few times with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon. Whiz until fairly smooth, then transfer to a small bowl and add 1/2 the jar of mayo. Mix well, adding the juice of the rest of the lemon, tasting and tweaking as necessary. Sprinkle with the sweet paprika, drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and take to the table.
Rating ***
Rating ***