Bacalao is salted, dried codfish that is usually cooked with olive oil, whole tomatoes, pimientos morones (canned red peppers), garbanzos and potatoes. The imported fish has always been expensive and it is a rare treat for the family to have bacalao. You can you also use other salted dried fish if you can’t find dried codfish and also to make the dish budget friendly.
To cook Bacalao a la Vizcaina; Soak bacalao in water ovenight, changing water once or twice to remove excess salt. Drain and remove bones. Boil water, put in tomatoes whole. When tomatoes are softened, peel off skin, remove seeds, chop and set aside. In a large casserole, heat olive oil. Saute garlic but do not brown. Add chopped onions and lower the heat stirring frequently till onions are transparent. Add chopped tomatoes, celery, carrots, parsley, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Simmer over very low heat for an hour. In an ovenproof dish put a layer of sauce, top with bacalao and pimientos. Sprinkle almonds and biscocho and top with more sauce. Layer ingredients in this manner then bake at 350 °F for 30 minutes. To see the complete recipe, continue reading.
How to Cook Bacalao a la Vizcaina
Ingredients
- 1/2 kilo bacalao salted sun dried codfish
- 1 cup olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic crushed
- 6 medium onions chopped
- 5 medium tomatoes chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1/2 cup carrot chopped
- 1 Tbsp. parsley chopped
- 1 tsp. Spanish paprika
- 3 Tbsp. tomato sauce
- 1 small can pimientos sliced
- 1/2 cup almonds sliced
- 1 piece biscocho crushed coarsely
Instructions
How to cook Bacalao a la Vizcaina:
- Soak bacalao in water ovenight, changing water once or twice to remove excess salt. Drain and remove bones.
- Boil water, put in tomatoes whole. When tomatoes are softened, peel off skin, remove seeds, chop and set aside.
- In a large casserole, heat olive oil. Saute garlic but do not brown.
- Add chopped onions and lower the heat stirring frequently till onions are transparent.
- Add chopped tomatoes, celery, carrots, parsley, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Simmer over very low heat for an hour.
- In an ovenproof dish put a layer of sauce, top with bacalao and pimientos.
- Sprinkle almonds and biscocho and top with more sauce.
- Layer ingredients in this manner then bake at 350 °F for 30 minutes.
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This is not the Bacalao a la Vizcaina recipe I’m used to when I was growing up. There’s too much items in the ingredients. Nevertheless I still like most of your recipes. In fact some are very close to mine. Who knows, I might try this one in the future. Take care.
Hi Jojo, thanks for sharing your insights and hoping you will try this too.