Recipe: roast cod with crushed new potatoes and olive tapenade

Published June 22, 2012

This recipe is from The Confident Cook – the name of Leicestershire-based Samantha Scott and her new mobile cookery school.

Rather than going to a cooking class, Samantha comes to you. And she teaches according to your needs, whether you want to create healthy menus for the children or produce five-course fine dining menus for your other half.

Before launching The Confident Cook, Samantha worked as a tour caterer, so she might also be able to share tales of the time she cooked mung bean stew for Ozzy Osborne. More here.

Serves 4
* 4 x 225g cod fillet pieces
* 500g new potatoes
* 1 medium red onion
* 95g chopped sundried tomatoes
* 1 lime
* Black olive tapenade
* Green pesto
* Olive oil
* Salt & black pepper
* Fresh basil for garnish

1 Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4  (180?C).

2 Peel the new potatoes and place them in a medium saucepan – bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes.

3 Place the cod fillets on a lined baking tray. Cut the lime into four wedges and squeeze the juice of a wedge over each piece of fish. Season each fillet with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

4 Chop the red onion in half and slice thinly to make half-moon shapes and gently fry in two tablespoons of olive oil. Make sure they don’t go too brown. This may take up to 10 minutes. Add the chopped sundried tomatoes and turn off the heat. Leave to one side.

5 Take four dessertspoons of pesto and place in a medium-sized bowl. Add enough olive oil to make the pesto slightly runny.

6 Once cooked, drain the potatoes and crush in a large bowl. Ensure there is plenty of texture. Add a small knob of butter, the onions and chopped tomatoes. Mix well.

7 Place a portion of the potato mix onto the centre of the serving plate and drizzle the pesto around it. Take the cod out of the oven and sit it on top of the crushed potato. Drizzle the rest of the pesto dressing around the edge of the plate.

8 Add a teaspoon of black olive tapenade onto the cod and decorate with a large basil leaf. Enjoy with a glass of dry white.

Samantha Scott

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