Many times you have heard me complaining about how much I miss seafood living in Midwest. When we lived in Italy we could easily have access to seafood market twice a week just down the stairs of our apartment, along the alleys of the our middle-age walled hometown (Cittadella, PD, Italy). Anyway, place you leave, new habits to develop! And this super easy, fast, light recipe fits perfect our crave for sea food, satisfying even my little ones, which love the light taste of cod, and adore the aftertaste of baked bacon.     One curiosities about Italy is that in the Region I come from (Veneto), cod fish is very popular, and some of the most popular recipe with cod fish are “baccala’ mantecato” and “baccala’ alla veneta“.

Going back to the recipe, this one could really be perfect for any kind of meal, even if you want to impress your guests, and the ingredients are so simple that (besides the cod), you probably already have them all at home! This time I chose a 4-5 servings dose (about two pounds) to feed my numerous family, but ingredients could be easily reduced or increased according to the amount of people you intend to feed ! Moreover, considering the delicate taste of the cod, you can pick whichever side dish to pair with it (a simply salad would be great), but if you have some “extra time” and you like baked potatoes, you can bake them while you bake the cod, only for a longer time. 

INGREDIENTS for 4-5 (adults) servings

2 pd. fresh cod fish loins

2-3 tbs. dried or fresh thyme

about 1 pd. slices of smoked bacon

plain bread crumbs

Panko bread crumbs

about a cup milk

optional: 1 pd. red potatoes peeled and cut in cubes

olive oil and sea salt to taste

Directions

In case you decided to make bake potatoes along  with the cod, peel and cut them in cubes, spread them with olive oil and panko bread. Arrange the potatoes in a baking sheet previously covered in parchment, keeping the cubes pretty far to each other to obtain a “crunchy” result.   Preheat the oven at 420 F. (200 C) – Convection. Be aware that the potatoes will need about 45-60 minutes to get ready, while the cod will need only 30 minutes. So, start baking the potatoes ahead of time, flipping them about every 20 minutes, and start baking the cod only 30 minutes before the potatoes will be done. Remember to salt the potatoes before to serve them.

Back to the cod: Mix the different kinds of breadcrumbs and the thyme to prepare the breading. Cut the cod fish loins in pieces of the quite same dimensions.

Drench the cod pieces in the milk one at a  time and bread them in the crumbs mix. Wrap the cod in bacon and arrange it in an oven sheet previously covered with parchment.

Bake the cod for about 15 minutes and then, flip the slides and bake for the same amount of time. Serve still warm with some fresh vegetable and (if you like) with a slice of lemon and/or if you had the time to made the potatoes, with them!

YUMMMMM!   LEARNT IT, MADE IT, LOVED IT!

Tip: – baked cod leftovers will be still good, only not as crisp as just baked.

– to make this recipe you can use even frozen cod, but remember to thaw it ahead of time, and that probably the frozen fish will release a lot of water while baking, so the result will be less crunchy than with the fresh one.

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Much thanks,

Silvia