Xató Catalan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mortar and pestle, or food processor
• •Wide salad bowl
• •Large serving platter
• •Small frying pan

Instructions

1. 1

   Desalt the cod

   Put the salt cod in a bowl, cover with cold water, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times. Taste a small flake before using it; it should be seasoned like the sea, not harsh with salt. Drain well, pat dry, and tear it by hand into rough strips.

   Thin pieces of salt cod desalinate faster than thick loins. If you buy already soaked bacallà, taste it anyway. Some shops leave it saltier than others.
2. 2

   Soak the ñoras

   Open the ñoras, shake out the seeds, and soak the peppers in hot water for 30 minutes until pliable. Scrape the softened red flesh from the skins with the back of a knife and keep the flesh. Throw away the tough skins; they do not soften enough in the sauce.

3. 3

   Toast and fry

   Toast the almonds and hazelnuts in a dry pan until they smell warm and nutty, then tip them into a mortar or food processor. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same pan and fry the bread until golden on both sides. Add the bread to the nuts. This small frying gives the sauce its body and a faint toast, not just thickness.

4. 4

   Pound the sauce

   Add the garlic, scraped ñora flesh, grated tomato, pimentón, vinegar, and a pinch of salt to the nuts and bread. Pound in a mortar until rough and thick, or pulse in a food processor without making it perfectly smooth. Drizzle in the 120ml olive oil little by little, working all the time, until the sauce is thick, red-brown, and spoonable. This is the step that decides the dish: the oil must bind into the nuts and bread, not float around them.

5. 5

   Build the salad

   Put the dried escarole in a wide bowl and add about two thirds of the xató sauce. Toss well with your hands so the bitter leaves are coated in the folds. Let it sit 10 minutes, then toss again. The rest softens the escarole just enough and lets the sauce cling.

6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Arrange the dressed escarole on a wide platter. Scatter over the torn salt cod, tuna flakes, anchovy fillets, and olives. Spoon a little more sauce over the top and serve the rest at the table. Taste before adding extra salt, because the cod and anchovies are already doing plenty of work.

Chef Tips

• •Escarole is the right leaf because it is bitter, sturdy, and curled enough to catch the sauce. Curly endive or frisée will do far from Catalonia, but they are lighter, so dress them closer to serving.
• •Ñoras give the sauce its sweet dried-pepper flesh. If you cannot find them, dried choricero pepper is the better substitute; sweet pimentón alone gives colour, but not the same body.
• •Use tuna packed in olive oil, not dry water-packed tuna. This is a celebration salad, and the preserved fish is part of the larder that makes it generous.
• •Do not rinse the anchovies unless they are painfully salty. Pat them instead. You want their clean salt in the bowl, not a washed-out little strip.
• •Serve xató with a dry white from Penedès, or cava if the table is in a good mood. The acidity cuts the sauce and the preserved fish cleanly.

Advance Preparation

• •Desalt the cod 24 to 36 hours ahead, depending on thickness, and keep it cold while soaking.
• •Make the xató sauce up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate it covered. Bring it to room temperature and stir well before dressing the salad.
• •Wash and dry the escarole several hours ahead, then wrap it in a clean towel and refrigerate so the leaves stay crisp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 365g)