Danny's Roasted Cod with Chorizo, Potatoes and White Onion

My son Danny visits the Grimsby wholesale fish market most weeks and buys whatever catches his eye. No shopping list, no standing order — just whatever looks good on the day. This is one of those catches.

A thick cod loin roasted on a bed of sliced potatoes, white onion and cooking chorizo, the chorizo fat doing all the work as it renders down and bastes everything below. A rough parsley and garlic salsa spooned over at the table. One ovenproof pan, start to finish. This cod with chorizo and potatoes is as honest as fish cookery gets.

This cod with chorizo and potatoes recipe is as honest as fish cookery gets.

WHY IT WORKS

The chorizo isn't here for drama. It's working. As it heats, the fat runs — deeply orange, lightly spiced — and the potatoes and onions soften and stain in it. By the time the cod goes in and the pan moves to the oven, the base is already doing the job a sauce would take three times as long to build.

The parsley and garlic salsa cuts through all of it cleanly. Rough-chopped, not blended, with enough olive oil to bring it together. It's the kind of finish that makes everything taste twice as considered as the effort involved.

FROM THE MARKET

He cooks it in Cleethorpes, a couple of miles down the coast. The methods tend to be confident and unfussy, which suits both of us.

The cod in this recipe came from that market. You can taste the difference. If you have access to a good fishmonger or wholesale market, use it.

How to Make Cod with Chorizo and Potatoes

INGREDIENTS (serves 1)

• 1 thick cod loin (approx. 200g), skin on or off
• 75g cooking chorizo, sliced into rounds
• 1 small white onion, finely sliced
• 1 medium potato, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 medium tomato, roughly crushed or chopped
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and black pepper

For the parsley and garlic salsa:

• A small handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2–3 tbsp good olive oil
• A squeeze of lemon
• Sea salt

METHOD

Make the salsa first. Combine the parsley, garlic and olive oil, add a squeeze of lemon and season. Set aside — it only improves as it sits.

Start the base on the hob. Heat a little olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chorizo, sliced potatoes and onion together. Cook for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chorizo fat has rendered, the potatoes are beginning to soften and the onions are starting to colour. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 2–3 minutes until they begin to break down.

Transfer to the oven. Preheat the oven to 190°C (fan 170°C / Gas 5). Lay the cod loin on top of the base. Season well. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 15–18 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through — opaque to the centre and beginning to flake.

Finish and serve. Spoon the parsley and garlic salsa generously over the cod. Eat straight from the pan.

NOTES

Cooking chorizo (the soft, fresh kind) is what you want here — not the cured slicing type. It renders properly and gives you that orange-stained cooking fat that makes the whole dish. Picante or dulce, whichever you prefer.

Slice the potatoes as finely as you can — 3–4mm — so they cook through in time with the fish. A mandoline makes it easy.

The salsa is rough by design. Don't blend it — the texture is part of what it does.

FOOTNOTE

This cod with chorizo and potatoes recipe is featured in my Inland Fish & Seafood Hub — a growing collection of fish and seafood recipes cooked from a Spanish village kitchen, 160km from the coast. It also features in my From the Family Kitchen, a collection of recipes from family cooks across the UK and Spain.

All recipe hubs → Recipe Hubs

Find more recipes and food adventures here.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef