Bacalao a la Vizcaína (Salted Cod Fish in tomato and roasted pepper sauce)
My recipe for Bacalao a la Vizcaína is made with de-salted cod fish, onion, tomatoes, roasted peppers, garlic, olives and more. It's served with potatoes, bread, boiled eggs, chopped parsley, and capers. This dish is perfect for Lent (or any time of year for salted cod fans).
Servings 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 400 grams of salted cod fish already desalted (see instructions above for desalting or you can buy it already desalted)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 cloves of garlic minced or crushed
- 4 ripe tomatoes peeled and diced, or 1 can of 400 grams of diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- 2 sweet peppers one red and one yellow, already roasted*** - without the skin, without the veins and without the seeds - homemade or storebought
- ½ cup white wine
- 15 olives adjust to taste
- ½ cup to 1 cup of the last water from the desalting or fish stock - adjust to taste
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsley
To serve:
- Sliced or diced boiled potatoes - optional
- 4 boiled eggs cut into slices for decoration - optional
- 2 tablespoons of capers - optional
- Toasted bread regular or garlic toasts
Instructions
- Rinse the desalted cod (see instructions above to desalt the cod), pat dry, and cut into large chunks. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the chopped onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add the minced garlic, chopped tomatoes, paprika powder, and bay leaves. Cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cut the roasted peppers into medium-sized chunks and add to the pot.
- Then add the white wine, fish stock or water, sugar, and pepper. Stir well and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
- Add the cod fish pieces and olives to the pot and cook for 10-15 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fish is soft and flaky.
- If you want to add the boiled potatoes, you can do so during the last 5 minutes of cooking. You can also serve them separately as a garnish or side for the final dish.
- Once the cod fish is cooked, add the chopped parsley, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest for a few minutes. You can taste and adjust the salt if necessary.
- Serve the Bacalao a la Vizcaina or cod fish stew while hot and decorated with slices of hard-boiled egg and capers, if desired.
- If you want to reheat it as an oven-baked casserole with potatoes, you can put some of the sauce in the bottom of a casserole or baking pan, then add the cooked sliced potatoes in one layer and cover it with the rest of the stewed cod. Bake it in a preheated oven at 350F or 180C for approximately 30 minutes.
Notes
***To roast the sweet peppers you can do it in a skillet or in the oven:
To roast them in a skillet, cut the peppers into large, uniform pieces, remove the veins and seeds. In a cast iron skillet, toast the sweet pepper pieces until the skin begins to brown or blacken. Remove the roasted peppers from the pan, and use a serrated knife to scrape off the charred skin.
To roast the sweet bell peppers in the oven, preheat the oven to 450F / 230C. Place the whole peppers on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes, rotating them every 10 minutes. Then place the peppers in a bowl and cover for 15 minutes. The skin can be easily peeled off, then remove the veins and seeds.
