Bacalao con Alcachofas y Guisantes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide cazuela or heavy sauté pan, 28 to 30cm
• •Small saucepan for the eggs
• •Mortar and pestle
• •Small frying pan for toasting almonds
• •Fine-mesh strainer for the frying oil

Instructions

1. 1

   Check and dry cod

   If you desalted the cod yourself, cut a 1cm sliver from the thickest portion and simmer it in plain water for 60 seconds. Let it cool and taste it. The fish should be well seasoned but not harsh; if it is still too salty, return the portions to fresh cold water in the refrigerator for another 4 hours. Pat the cod completely dry before flouring it.

   Ready-desalted cod varies between shops, so test it even when the label says it is ready. This small check is cheaper than finding out at the table.
2. 2

   Prepare spring vegetables

   Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, lower in the eggs and cook for 10 minutes. Cool them in cold water, peel and quarter them. Fill a bowl with cold water and squeeze in the lemon. Pull the tough outer leaves from each artichoke, cut away the top third, peel the stem and trim the base. Quarter the hearts, remove any hairy choke and place them in the lemon water as you work.

3. 3

   Lightly fry cod

   Spread the flour on a plate and coat the cod lightly, shaking off every loose bit. Heat 80ml of the olive oil in a wide 28 to 30cm cazuela or sauté pan over medium heat. Lay in the cod skin-side down and cook for 3 minutes without disturbing it. Turn carefully and cook the flesh side for 1 minute. Lift the pieces to a plate. They should be lightly golden outside and still raw at the centre.

4. 4

   Cook the sofregit

   Pour the frying oil into a heatproof bowl for straining later, leaving the flour sediment behind, and wipe the pan. Add the remaining 40ml olive oil and the onion. Cook over low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until dark gold, soft and jammy. Mince 1 garlic clove, add it and cook for 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomato and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the mixture is thick, rusty red and a spoon drawn through it leaves a clear trail. This slow sofregit gives the sauce its sweetness. Rush it and the whole dish tastes thin.

5. 5

   Braise the artichokes

   Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes, scraping up the browned residue. Add the stock or water and the bay leaf. Drain the artichokes, add them to the pan and bring the liquid just to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes, turning the quarters once. A small knife should enter with resistance; they will finish cooking beside the cod.

   For frozen artichoke quarters, simmer them for only 5 to 7 minutes before adding the cod. They are already blanched and turn soft sooner.
6. 6

   Pound the picada

   While the artichokes cook, toast the almonds in a dry small pan over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, moving them often, until pale gold. Put them in a mortar with the remaining 2 garlic cloves and pound to coarse crumbs. Add 10g parsley and pound again into a rough green paste. Ladle in 60ml of the braising liquid and stir until loose enough to pour.

7. 7

   Finish without boiling

   Return the cod to the pan skin-side up, nestling it between the artichokes. Add fresh peas now; if using frozen peas, wait until the cod has cooked for 3 minutes. Pour the picada into the spaces around the fish and shake the pan gently by its handles to spread it. Cook uncovered at the barest simmer for 7 to 9 minutes, depending on thickness. Do not stir the cod with a spoon. It is ready when the thickest part reaches 63°C and separates into moist flakes under light pressure. Set the egg quarters into the sauce for the final 2 minutes.

   If the sauce tightens before the cod is ready, add 30ml water around the edge of the pan. It should coat the artichokes but still move when you shake the cazuela.
8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Remove the bay leaf and take the pan off the heat. Rest for 5 minutes, then taste the sauce before adding any salt; the cod usually supplies enough. Add no more than 2g if it truly needs it. Scatter over the reserved 2g parsley and serve from the cazuela, giving each person cod, artichoke, peas, egg and plenty of sauce for bread.

Chef Tips

• •Choose thick, evenly cut salt cod loins with the skin attached. Refrigerated or frozen ready-desalted loins are a sound choice. Fresh cod can be cooked by the same method, but it lacks the firm texture and deep cured savour that define this Lenten dish.
• •Fresh artichokes and peas meet from late winter into spring. Look for tight, heavy artichoke heads with crisp stems. Outside that window, use 300g frozen artichoke quarters and 250g frozen peas; if the late-summer market is full instead, cook Catalan samfaina and save this cod for spring.
• •Use canned whole tomatoes for the sofregit unless the fresh ones are properly ripe. Spring tomatoes are often pale and watery, while a good conserva has enough body to cook down dark and sweet.
• •The stock must be unsalted. Water is better than a salty stock cube because the bacalao continues to season the sauce as it cooks, and salt is rather difficult to remove with a spoon.
• •Serve with pa de pagès or another firm country loaf. A dry Catalan Garnatxa Blanca or Xarel·lo has enough freshness for the salt cod and the green, faintly bitter artichokes.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 2 days. Reheat covered over low heat with 30ml water, stopping as soon as the sauce loosens and the fish is hot; repeated boiling turns the cod fibrous.

Advance Preparation

• •If starting with fully salted cod, buy about 600g to yield roughly 700g after soaking. Rinse off the surface salt, submerge the pieces in plenty of cold water and refrigerate at or below 4°C for 48 hours, changing the water every 8 hours. Pieces thicker than 4cm may need 72 hours. Test a cooked sliver before using.
• •The sofregit can be cooked up to 2 days ahead. Cool it, cover and refrigerate, then return it to the cazuela before adding the wine and continuing the recipe.
• •Boil and peel the eggs a day ahead, and toast the almonds at the same time. Keep both covered in the refrigerator. Cut the artichokes shortly before cooking because even lemon water only slows their browning.
• •Finish the cod close to serving time. The completed dish benefits from its 5-minute rest, but making it hours ahead means reheating delicate fish, and nothing is gained by that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 525g)