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Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains

Bacalao a la vizcaína (Basque salt cod in red pepper sauce)

71

One of the great Basque dishes: thick pieces of salt cod finished in a deep, brick-red sauce of slowly cooked onions and sweet dried choricero peppers. Very little tomato and no heat at all. Start desalting two days ahead.

Time
85 min (30 prep + 55 cook)
Servings
4
Per serving
318 kcal
Protein
35 g

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb soaked (about 1 1/4 lb dry) soaked salt cod, thick loin pieces, desalted 48 hours in the fridge with the water changed every 6 hours; skin on
  • 5 dried choricero peppers ancho chiles, or 3 ancho chiles; only the scraped pulp is used
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
  • 2 large red onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 large cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 small slice baguette, crumbled
  • 2 tbsp tomato sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 pinch salt, taste first; the cod brings its own
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, for dusting

Steps

  1. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried peppers. Cover them with very hot water and soak for 30 minutes (start this first, and it overlaps with the onions). Drain, cover with fresh boiling water for 1 minute, and drain; do this twice more, which takes out the bitterness. Scrape the soft flesh off the skins with a spoon and throw the skins away.
  2. Warm 4 teaspoons of the oil in a wide pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook slowly for 25 minutes, stirring often, until very soft and sweet. Add the garlic and crumbled bread and cook until golden.
  3. Add the pepper pulp, tomato sauce, water and a pinch of salt. Simmer for 20 minutes, then pass through a food mill or blend until smooth and return it to the pot. It should be thick and velvety.
  4. Pat the cod dry, dust it with the flour and shake off the excess. Heat the remaining oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat and sear the pieces for 1 minute on each side.
  5. Lay the cod in the sauce skin side up, cover and cook gently for 10–15 minutes, shaking the pot now and then, until the cod reaches 145°F and flakes. Taste for salt and serve hot.

Good to know

Can I use fresh cod?

Yes. Salt 600 g of fresh cod loin, leave it 30 minutes, rinse, and cook it for only 8 minutes in the sauce. The texture is softer than salt cod, at about the same score.

Can I use jarred choricero paste?

Yes, it saves the soaking: use 2 tablespoons of carne de pimiento choricero and skip the first step.

Per

Calories
90
Protein
(46%)
10 g
Fat
(28%)
3 g
Carbohydrates
(27%)
6 g
of which sugar
3 g
Fiber
1 g
Sodium
971 mg

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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How

As written, 1273 kcal goes into the pot and 1684 g of ingredients comes out as about 1415 g of food: 90 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.