How to Cook Zuppa Di Baccala
Serves: 6
Preparation time: overnight
Cooking time: 40 mins
Ingredients needed to make Zuppa Di Baccala:
- 600 gm fresh cod
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 white onion, peeled
- 2 canned (400 gms each) plum tomatoes
- 2 celery sticks, trimmed and inner green leaves reserved
- 1 small dried red chilli, crushed
- 2 small carrots, peeled
- Bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and kept separated from the stalk
- 425 ml chicken stock
- Juice of a lemon
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil, as required
Cooking instructions for Zuppa Di Baccala:
- Sprinkle several fistfuls of sea salt all over the fresh cod, cover and set aside overnight; increase the timing to 36 hours in case the fish is over a couple of inches thick.
- On the day of serving, wash the salted cod under running water to get rid of excess saltiness.
- Slice the veggies as well as the parsley stalks into fine bits and set aside separately.
- Add a lashing of olive oil in a saucepan and heat it over moderate heat.
- Throw in the chopped veggies and parsley stalks and stir them well together to mix properly.
- Sprinkle the dried chili over it, give it a good stir and place a lid on top partially.
- Cook for about 15 minutes or until the veggies soften but don’t change colour.
- Empty the can of tomatoes into it, along with its juices and stir them all together to mix well.
- Simmer the broth for about 10 minutes and pour in the stock.
- Continue to cook the mixture until it begins to boil, while breaking the tomatoes with a spatula to make it mushier.
- Lower the salt cod fillets into the boiling soup and bring it to a simmer.
- Continue to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and turns flaky when poked with a fork.
- Stir the fish flakes into the soup, along with fair amount of black pepper, a dash of salt and a splash of lemon juice.
- Chop the celery as well as the parsley leaves finely and sprinkle them on top of the soup.
- Fold them into the soup and ladle it into serving bowls.
- Add a lashing of extra virgin olive oil over each serving and serve hot.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
