Tomato and Pepper Poached Cod (Bacalao a la Riojana)

Cod Riojana style, or Poached cod with tomato and piquillo pepper is a rustic Spanish dish in which tender cod fillets gently cook in a rich tomato and piquillo pepper sauce infused with smoked paprika and aromatic bay leaves. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner, this poached cod recipe comes together quickly. Crusty bread is a must to soak up every drop of flavorful sauce.

This summer I took a short trip to northern Spain, starting and ending in Logroño, the capital of La Rioja. The region is famous for its world-class wine, but it is also a beautiful region of mountainous farmland where much more than just grapes grows.

In Logroño I spent time in the historic center of the city slowly hopping from one tapas bar to another, dragging lunch into dinner and late evening snacks. In a region rich in wine, charcuterie and grilled meats, I was surprised by the Bacalao a la Riojana, a poached cod dish that has appeared on menu after menu.

When I finally tried it, I was presented with a poached cod fillet with a sweet and smoky red pepper, tomato and paprika sauce with bread for dipping. The sweet, savory and smoky sauce infused the fish with its vibrant flavor.

Fortunately it is not just a tapas bar specialty, but an easy dish to prepare at home. Bacalao a la Riojana is a tasty single dish of vegetables and fish that is easy to prepare. The quickest ingredient that adds tons of flavor is a jar of piquillo peppers, a type of Spanish sweet red peppers that are roasted over coals before being crumbled.

Summary

1. Ingredients for Riojana-style cod
2. What is Bacalao?
3. How to prepare this poached cod recipe
4. What to serve with this poached cod recipe
5. Tasty Mediterranean fish dishes
6. Cod with Tomato and Peppers Recipe (Bacalao A La Riojana).

Ingredients for Riojana-style cod

This poached cod recipe gets a big boost of flavor from jarred roasted piquillo peppers and smoked Spanish paprika. Here’s what else you’ll need:

• Extra virgin olive oil: enriches the sauce and helps caramelize the onions. Choose a high-quality extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor. For this recipe, I recommend it Hojiblanca extra virgin olive oil grown in Spain.
• Onion fry in olive oil to form the aromatic base of the sauce. Use a yellow or white onion.
• Garlic: At once nutty and pungent, garlic adds a sweet, savory flavor to the sauce.
• Roasted Piquillo Peppers they are small sweet red peppers, widespread in Rioja and Navarra, which are roasted over coals. You can usually find them jarred in the canned vegetable aisle of the grocery store. If you can’t find them, use any other type of fire-roasted sweet red peppers.
• Crushed Tomatoes: Use good quality canned crushed tomatoes as the base of the sauce.
• Spanish smoked paprika: Made from finely ground smoked and dried sweet red peppers, smoked paprika adds a fruity, smoky flavor to the sauce and a deep red hue.
• Salt and pepper: You need these essential seasonings to bring out the other flavors in the dish.
• Bay leaf: it is the bay leaf and in this dish it adds a subtle herbaceous and floral scent to the sauce. For this recipe you can use fresh or dried bay leaves.
• Cod: cod fillets have a delicate flavor that absorbs the flavor of the sauce in which they are poached. You can use fresh cod or desalted cod or cod. More on this topic below.
• Parsley: a garnish of fresh chopped parsley adds bright green color and a fresh, herbaceous flavor to round out the dish.

What is Bacalao?

In Spanish cuisine, the word bacalao refers to dried and salted cod fillets. Spanish recipes call for bacalao, or cod, more often than fresh cod.

Cod has a long history as an important commodity in international trade, but fresh fish does not keep very well. To preserve it, fishermen traditionally salted and dried the fish to transport and trade it around the world. Although cod has fallen out of favor in the United States, it is still an essential ingredient in many Mediterranean countries, including Spain.

Before cooking, the cod must be left to soak for a maximum of three days to desalt and rehydrate it. The salting process gives the cod a stronger, tastier flavor and a characteristic, compact consistency. In bacalao a la Riojana, the cod absorbs the flavor of the sauce and adds its own.

Fresh cod, on the other hand, has a delicate flavor and flakes easily. It absorbs the flavorful sauce but is too delicate to contribute to it. I called for fresh cod in my version of Balacao a la Riojana, but you can use any.

How to prepare this poached cod Recipe

Bacalao a la Riojana is a simple and unique dish that you can serve in less than an hour. Plan to spend 25 minutes preparing the sauce and 10-15 minutes cooking the cod. Here are the steps:

• Cook the onions and peppers. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just golden on the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sliced ​​piquillo peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
• Prepare the tomato sauce. Add the tomatoes, paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
• Boil the cod. Dip the fish into the tomato sauce, skin side up. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, then turn and continue to simmer until the fish is completely opaque and flakes easily, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Garnish and serve. Serve the portions of cod with a generous spoonful of tomato sauce and peppers. Garnish with parsley.

What to serve with this cod baked in foil Recipe

There will be a lot of extra chilli and tomato sauce, so I usually serve Riojana-style bacalao with a starch to soak up the sauce, plus a refreshing salad on the side.

I love spreading slices of crusty bread with sauce, like focaccia, olive bread or pan con pomodoro. While you could serve it with a simple side of brown rice, I prefer a more flavorful saffron rice. Boiled potatoes with fresh herbs are easy and elegant, but you could make these roasted Greek potatoes and let them cook while you cook the fish on the stove.

For a lighter side, I like the contrast of this sweet and sour endive salad with rosemary and citrus croutons. I bind it by adding 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika to the anchovy seasoning. Or go green with a wilted spinach salad packed with cannellini beans, goat cheese and walnuts, or a kale salad with toasted pistachios and parmesan.

Tasty Mediterranean fish dishes

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