Recipe: Autumn Cod

A walk through the local markets, greengrocers or forest yields an assortment of the colours, flavours and textures of bolets (wild Catalan mushrooms). The following recipe features cod spiked with chorizo and can be varied with any of the mushrooms on offer this season. Seasoned with parsley, rosemary, and thyme and other typical Catalan flavours, it makes for a tasty transition from summer to autumn.

INGREDIENTS

- 1.5kg whole cod fillet, thin tail section removed (you can also use two small filets)

- 60g dry chorizo

- 2 plum tomatoes

- 5 bolets of your choice

- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

- Cayenne pepper

- Sea salt and ground pepper

- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

- 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- 2 spring onions

- 1 lemon

- 50ml shop-bought clam juice

Preheat the oven to 230ºC and prepare the ingredients: quarter the chorizo lengthwise and cut it into thin slices. Wash, stem and thinly slice the mushrooms, quarter the plum tomatoes lengthwise and thinly slice them, trim the spring onions, leaving only the white and light-green parts, and chop finely.

Line a baking sheet with cooking parchment and brush with oil. Place the cod on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Place chorizo, tomatoes and mushrooms in alternating rows across the fish until completely covered. Sprinkle cayenne pepper and garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley and spring onions over the fillet; season with more salt. Drizzle olive oil over the fish.

Roast the fish, occasionally spooning accumulated oil over the fish, about 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, and pour clam juice over cod. Continue roasting until a metal skewer inserted into the fish for five seconds goes in easily and feels hot when touched to your lip: this should be around five minutes. To serve, squeeze lemon over the fish. Lift the parchment paper on one side and slide the fish onto a hot serving platter.