Portuguese-style baked salt cod with onions, olives and potatoes

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 500g salted cod, soaked and desalted
• 800g potatoes, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 2 large onions, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra if needed
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 red pepper, finely sliced
• 100g black olives
• 2 eggs, optional
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get the cod ready

If your salt cod has not already been soaked, soak it in cold water for 24–36 hours in the fridge, changing the water several times, until properly desalinated. Once ready, drain it well and cut it into large pieces. This is not the bit to guess at – salt cod wants proper soaking or it will make itself far too well known later.

2. Start the potatoes

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the potato slices for 8–10 minutes until just tender at the edges but not falling apart. Drain well and leave them to steam dry for a minute or two. You want them part-cooked and ready to finish in the oven, not collapsing before they get there.

3. Soften the onions

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions with a small pinch of salt and cook gently for 12–15 minutes until soft, silky and just starting to turn golden. Add the garlic, bay leaf and red pepper and cook for another 4–5 minutes until everything has softened nicely. This wants to feel sweet and generous rather than hurried.

4. Cook the cod briefly

Meanwhile, poach the salt cod gently in simmering water for 5–6 minutes until it starts to flake. Lift it out carefully, leave it until cool enough to handle, then remove any skin and bones and break it into generous chunks. You want pieces with a bit of character, not tiny shreds disappearing into the dish.

5. Build the bake

Heat the oven to 190°C fan. In a baking dish, layer half the potatoes, then half the onion mixture, then the cod. Scatter over half the olives. Repeat with the remaining potatoes, onions and olives, then spoon over any good oily juices left in the pan. Add a little extra olive oil if it looks as though it would benefit from it.

6. Bake until properly settled

Bake for 25–30 minutes until everything is piping hot and the top is just catching and turning golden in places. You want the flavours to come together and the potatoes to finish soft and savoury, not merely sit in separate layers behaving politely.

7. Finish properly

If using the eggs, boil them for 8 minutes, cool under cold water, peel and quarter them. Once the bake is out of the oven, remove the bay leaf, squeeze over the lemon juice and scatter over the parsley. Add the egg quarters on top if using.

8. Serve

Bring it to the table warm, with a little extra parsley and black pepper over the top. It is very good with a simple green salad alongside, but perfectly capable of carrying dinner on its own.

A couple of helpful notes
- Salt cod varies in saltiness, so soaking time can differ. Taste a small piece once cooked to make sure it is properly balanced.
- The eggs are optional, but they do make it feel more traditionally Portuguese in spirit.
- Good olive oil matters here, as it is doing more than just lubricating the pan – it is part of the flavour of the dish.