Roasted Cod Provencal

February 25, 2016 Ceri

When it comes to food, my brain has two rooms. One room is full of my family’s immediate needs. For example, in this room you’ll find an ongoing grocery list, a reminder to NOT pack lunch on Monday nights because Tuesday is pizza lunch (and can I tell you how many times I’ve packed a damn lunch on a Monday night because I am SO dumb?), random ideas for convincing either Julian to eat porridge or Esme to eat bagels so we have another breakfast we’re all happy to eat…. you get the idea. In the other room, are ideas and half-baked recipes for SPC. So, you’d see lists of ingredients I feel like we should be trying to use more (quinoa, cauliflower and, God-help-me, kelp), reminders to make more one-pot dinners, notes on a bake-sale post and so on.

This recipe lived on the border of these two rooms for about a year. I’d make it, everyone would love it, I’d resolve to make it in the studio so I could share it with you then… somehow it would always fall off of my list. I’d forget about it for a month and then see cod at the market and make it again. And I’m so sorry I’ve been keeping it to myself! It’s not quite one pot but nearly. It’s easy to make and yet ends up looking pretty fancy. You could absolutely serve this at a dinner party. But even on a busy Wednesday, it gets the job done.

p.s. Please do not leave out the black olives! Even if you know your kids are going to pick them out, they’ll leave behind a great flavour in the sauce. You could just serve crusty bread to wipe up that deliciousness or you could make some of our latest fave: pearl cous cous. That’s another thing that’s been in both rooms of my brain – try it!

photo by Maya Visnyei

Roasted Cod Provencal

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

serves 4

Ingredients

2 Tbsps olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red onion, sliced
1 bulb of fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced (retain the fennel fronds for garnish)
1 red pepper, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 x 28 oz. can of tomatoes
1/3 cup black olived, pitted
4 filets of cod

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, warm olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the garlic, onions and fennel and sautée for about five minutes until vegetables begin to soften. Add the peppers and the herbs and cook for another three minutes.

Add the tomatoes and olives. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes. Allow to simmer and thicken up for about 10 minutes.

Pour the sauce into a baking dish. Lay the cod over the sauce and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until fish is flaky.

Sprinkle finely chopped fennel fronds over top.

Sweet Potato Chronicles