COD WITH HONEY ALIOLI

This delicious Cod with Honey recipe offers a wonderful alternative to traditional Christmas meat dishes. A Catalan classic from Monika Linton's book, Brindisa: The True Food of Spain, it balances the sweetness of caramelised apples, honey, and pine nuts, with the savoury cod. Topped with a creamy alioli and baked to golden perfection, this dish brings a festive twist to your holiday table.

READY IN

30 min

COOKING TIME

20 min

PREP TIME

10 min

SERVES

4 as a main

ingredients

2 eating apples

a little olive oil

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120g sugar

1 heaped tablespoon pine nuts

200g alioli (see page 136)

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30g good honey, preferably rosemary

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4 x 300g pieces of de-salted cod loin

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Plain flour for coating

Olive oil, for deep-frying

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100ml PX sherry vinegar (optional) to finish

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Method:

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7.
Peel and core the apples and cut into eighths.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, put in the apple slices and sugar and cook gently until caramelised.
In a separate pan, dry fry the pine nuts until they are lightly toasted, then keep to one side.
In a bowl, mix the alioli and honey together.
Coat the cod pieces in flour, then heat a generous amount of olive oil in a pan, making sure it comes no further than a third of the way up the pan. If you have a thermometer, it should be-180°C; otherwise, drop in some flour and if it sizzles gently: then the oil is ready.
Put in the floured cod and deep-fry for around 2 minutes until golden, depending on the thickness. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper.
Arrange the apple slices in the base of an ovenproof dish, and place the fried cod on top, skin side down. Spread a thick layer of the alioli and honey mixture over the top. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and bake in the preheated oven for 4-6 minutes, until golden brown (if it doesn’t brown enough, you could put it under a hot grill to finish for 2-3 minutes).
Heat the PX vinegar in a pan and let it bubble up until reduced by just over half, then drizzle over the dish before serving.

Little tip: See our video about de-salting cod here