Welcome to my blog. Today I would like to propose a very tasty and versatile fish dish, suitable even for dressing a good plate of pasta, namely stockfish cooked my way, with the scents of the Mediterranean, a simple and delightful dish. It is a dish that does not contain eggs, cereals, gluten, lactose, or dairy products. Stockfish, or to be precise, “Norwegian stockfish,” for those who are new to cooking, is nothing more than dried cod naturally, in the open air, thanks to the cold and dry winter climate of Norway, without the use of salt (as is the case, instead, for gray cod known as “baccala”). To be consumed, it is rehydrated, soaked in fresh water for three days. However, it happens that stockfish, despite the quick cooking of its meat, can release some of the water it is soaked in, and this characteristic, for some culinary preparations, becomes a problem because there is a risk that the cooking juices become “watery,” so to speak. With this method, with the recipe for stockfish my way, we will avoid this drawback, with a lip-smacking result.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter and Spring
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 clove Garlic
- 12 oz Tomato Sauce
- 1/2 cup Water (100 milliliters)
- 30 Black Olives (pitted)
- 5 Sun-dried Tomatoes
- 5 fillets Anchovies in Oil
- to taste Fine Salt
- to taste Dried Oregano (or parsley or chives)
- 2.2 lbs Stockfish Fillet
- 1 Carrot
- 1 stalk Celery
- to taste Water (For boiling the stockfish)
- to taste Coarse Salt (for the stockfish cooking water)
Steps
To prepare this recipe, I recommend using the stockfish fillet that is already soaked (in Naples we call it “curuniello”), the most prized part, which has firm and meaty flesh and a thickness of about 2-3 inches.
Have it cut into pieces by your trusted fishmonger.
Let’s boil the stockfish
Put water in a large pot. Add the carrot, celery, and sun-dried tomatoes (which need to soften) and bring to a boil.
When the water begins to boil, salt it with coarse salt (1 level teaspoon is more than enough), wait for it to boil again before adding the stockfish pieces, keeping the flame lively.
Cover the pot, wait a minute (still on high heat), turn off the heat, and let the stockfish passively cook in the hot water for only 10 minutes.
It is important that the fillet’s flesh is firm and thick, otherwise even in passive cooking, the stockfish could fall apart.
If you notice that your stockfish fillet is too soaked, that is, too soft, or you decide to use another cut, like the so-called “stockfish belly” which is thinner than the fillet, leave it in hot water for only 5 minutes.
After 10 minutes, drain the stockfish, pass it under a gentle stream of water to stop the cooking, and leave it in the colander.
Without burning yourself, immediately remove the skin from the pieces of stockfish; then let them cool for a few minutes before proceeding to “flake” the pieces.
Retrieve the sun-dried tomatoes from the fish cooking water, gently squeeze them to remove excess water, and cut them into strips.
Pit the black olives.
Prepare the sauce
Meanwhile, in a large pan, sauté a clove of garlic in its skin in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the anchovy fillets over low heat.
Stir occasionally until the anchovies have completely melted.
Then add the pitted black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and increase the heat.
Let everything sauté over high heat for a minute, then add the tomato sauce, fine salt to taste, and the half glass of water (which prevents the tomato sauce from drying out too quickly, giving it time to cook and become flavorful).
Lower the heat a bit, stir well, and let the sauce reduce for about ten minutes, not abandoning it.
While the sauce is cooking, remove any bones still present in the stockfish, flake the stockfish pieces (as in the photo below on the right) to ensure they absorb the seasoning well.
After about ten minutes, or when we realize the sauce has reduced well, add the stockfish “flakes,” salt a little more and gently mix to combine the ingredients.
Let the flavors blend for about ten minutes over medium heat, then turn off the heat and complete the dish with a pinch of fresh or dried oregano, or with chopped parsley or, again, finely chopped chives.
