Stockfish, or ‘pesce stocco’ as it’s known in the South, is a food made from Arctic Norwegian cod preserved by drying. In the South, it is typically found already soaked, making it ready to cook and easy to use in the kitchen.
It’s similar to salt cod, which is preserved in salt.
Today, I propose this simple-to-prepare delicate and light main dish, often cooked in Calabria:
grilled stockfish with cherry tomatoes, peppers, and black olives, a truly delicious, colorful, and summery dish.
If you can’t find stockfish, you can substitute it with cod fillets or soaked and desalted salt cod.
Stockfish is a staple in the South and is cooked in many ways, especially on Christmas Eve, such as the classic fritters or ‘crispelle’, or with tomatoes, potatoes, and olives, or ‘alla ghiotta’ with cauliflower.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients for Grilled Stockfish with Cherry Tomatoes
- 1.3 lbs Stockfish or soaked salt cod
- 20 Cherry tomatoes
- 1 Red onion
- 4 Mixed peppers
- to taste Black olives
- to taste Salt
- to taste Olive oil
- 1 sprig Fresh basil
Tools
- 1 Oven
- 1 Grill
- 1 Pan
- 1 Stovetop
Preparation for Grilled Stockfish with Cherry Tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the washed peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and grill them for about 25-30 minutes, turning often during cooking until the skins start to darken.
Once cooked to perfection, remove the peppers from the oven and place them in a plastic or paper bag to rest, allowing the steam to help remove the skin.Meanwhile, wash the stockfish fillets and grill them in a hot pan or on a grill plate, starting on high heat then lowering it to cook slowly with a pinch of salt, turning on both sides for even cooking.
In a separate pan, sauté the finely chopped onion in oil with the halved cherry tomatoes and basil, gently simmer for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes soften.Add the stockfish fillets to the tomatoes and sauté together for a few minutes, first removing the outer skin, and add fresh basil leaves.
Remove the peppers from the bag, peel them, remove the seeds and filaments, then slice them into strips, placing them on a plate and seasoning with oil and salt.
Place the stockfish fillets and cherry tomatoes on a serving dish, add the black olives, torn fresh basil, and seasoned peppers, drizzle everything with a little extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Serve the grilled stockfish with cherry tomatoes either warm or cold.
ANNA RECOMMENDS…
if you can’t find stockfish, you can use salt cod, which must be desalted 2-3 days in advance in water.
For more stockfish or salt cod recipes, click here see also pasta with stockfish and zucchini flowers
