Gordon Ramsay’s World Kitchen Sample Recipes: Cod with Romesco Sauce

ROMESCO HAILS FROM CATALONIA, where it is frequently served as a sauce or a dip. Here, I’m baking cod fillets in a generous layer of romesco. It’s a simple, healthy and tasty way to cook any variety of white fish.

Serves 4
4 thick cod fillets, with skin, about 175g each
3 tbsp olive oil
100g blanched almonds
3–4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
pinch of dried chilli flakes, to taste
6 ripe beef tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
sea salt and black pepper
85g good-quality white bread (about 2 slices), toasted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to finish
3–4 tbsp water
3 tbsp sherry vinegar

Check the cod fillets for pin-bones and pull out any that you come across with kitchen tweezers. Chill until ready to cook.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the almonds and garlic and fry gently until lightly golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

Add the onion to the pan and fry gently until lightly golden. Add the dried chilli flakes, tomatoes and bay leaf. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are soft.

Meanwhile, put the almonds and garlic, bread and parsley into a blender or food processor with 1 tbsp water. Blend to a rough paste and then stir into the tomato mixture, along with another 2–3 tbsp water. Add the sherry vinegar, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Arrange the cod fillets in an ovenproof dish, pour over the romesco sauce, cover the dish loosely with foil and bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes, depending upon the thickness of the fish, until it is just done. Serve straight from the dish, sprinkled with a little chopped parsley.

Gordon Ramsay’s Recipes
www.gordonramsayrecipes.com