Cod with sanfaina. Bacallá amb sanfaina

How to make a cod with sanfaina or bacallá amb sanfaina . This fish recipe is a very popular dish in Catalan gastronomy.

Although the sanfaina, its accompaniment, more than a dish itself, is a garnish with which you can serve meat, legumes or fish. Today we have prepared one of the most classic combinations, bacallá amb sanfaina, cod a la sanfaina .

The ratatouille is a variant of the manchego ratatouille , and large similarities with the Basque piperade , Hungarian Lecsó or French ratatouille . Its main ingredients are tomato, onion, zucchini, pepper and eggplant. From these, as almost always, each teacher has his booklet and you can add some type of aromatic herbs, including parsley or mint.

The cod, once desalted, is fried lightly floured with the intention of making it a first cook. It is about cooking it halfway to finish doing it inside the sanfaina, thus making it impregnate its juices and at the same time add its flavor to the whole stew.

Today’s recipe is one of those that we can classify within the group of very healthy as well as very tasty. If we want to make classy dishes at home, with little fat, but with a lot of flavor and substance, this is one of the best alternatives, a culinary luxury.

How to desalt the cod. Previous preparation of the cod with sanfaina

1. To desalinate the cod loins we must first cut them if they are very large. I advise you to read how to desalt cod before starting the recipe . Here you have all the tips so that the recipe comes out of 10 points. Still here is a little summary.
2. Normally the thick loins are the ones used for this type of recipes where we are going to coat and go through the pan. To desalt the cod, the piece of fish must be covered in plenty of water.
3. The thick parts will desalt for 48 hours, with water change approximately every 6 hours.
4. While the fish is desalting, it must remain at a temperature between 6º and 8º C in the refrigerator, since at room temperature it can ferment.

Preparation of the sanfaina

1. We cut the eggplant into slices and salt it abundantly. Let the eggplant rest for about 30 minutes, thus eliminating part of its bitterness. After this time we clean it with a kitchen paper and reserve.
2. In a saucepan we heat a good stream of olive oil. When it is hot, add the diced onion and fry it. While the onion is cooking, cut the rest of the vegetables into cubes.
3. When the onion has been cooking for 5 or 6 minutes, add the peppers and continue to fry. Let it cook about 10 more minutes before adding more vegetables.
4. Add the chopped eggplant and zucchini and continue cooking for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. We must be careful to stir the vegetables from time to time to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot.
5. Peel the tomatoes and add them to the casserole. Salt and let the vegetables cook for about 40 minutes, until they are very soft. We reserve the ratatouille. It is important that we stay a little short with the salt, at the end of the process the cod will contribute its salty part to the dish.

Frying the cod and final presentation of the cod with sanfaina

1. Flour the fish lightly and brown it in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. We do not want the cod to be completely fried, but rather give it a prime point. Then we will finish cooking with the ratatouille. We remove the cod when we see that it begins to brown.
2. Add the loins to the ratatouille casserole and continue cooking for about 5 or 6 more minutes. Thus the cod will finish cooking and add its flavor to the stew.
3. We serve the cod very hot with part of the ratatouille. We can accompany it with some cooked, fried potatoes or simply use a good bread to dip in its wonderful sauce. In any case, it is a healthy dish, very tasty and totally delicious.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog. You can see all the photos of the step by step of this cod with sanfaina  in this album.