ROAST COD WITH PEA PURéE
- cloves from 1 head garlic, unpeeled
- 5½ cups frozen young peas
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon flour
- salt and freshly milled pepper
- 4 cod fillets (about 8 ounces each)
Instructions:
- Put the garlic in a large saucepan of cold water, bring to boil, salt, and then boil for 10 minutes. Fish out the cloves with a slotted spoon, push them out of their skins back into the water, and bring back to the boil.
- Add the peas and cook for slightly longer than you would if you were eating them normally. Drain, then tip into a food processor, add the butter, and process. Add the cream and process again.
- If you’ve done all this when you get in, scrape back into the saucepan so you can reheat as and when you want it.
- Now for the cod. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Get hold of a frying pan that will go in the oven later; otherwise, use whatever frying pan you have and transfer the fish you cook in it later to a baking sheet.
- Whichever, pour the oil into the pan, put it on the stove, and, while it’s heating up, put the flour on a plate, add salt and pepper, and dredge the cod fillets in it.
- Sear the cod fillets on each side, then transfer to the oven and bake until just cooked through, 7–10 minutes, depending on how thick they are and how cold they were before you started. Serve the juicy white fish alongside the vivid green nubbly purée.