The dish we are preparing on this occasion is one that is well known in Catalonia and Valencia. In fact, its ingredients are also often used to fill empanadas and cocas. It is a recipe for cod in sanfaina, a preparation full of nutrients that you can prepare at Easter or at any time of the year.
The sanfaina or samfaina can be prepared in the company of other meats, but this time we will use cod. It is a fried eggplant, zucchini and other vegetables that go very well with many types of meat. It is easy and cheap to prepare, so all you have to do is keep reading to discover how to make cod in sanfaína.
Ingredients to make cod in sanfaina:
- 4 pieces of cod trunks
- 1 zucchini
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 eggplant
- 1 sweet onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 400 grams of chopped tomato without skin
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon of dried parsley to decorate
- 1 glass of white wine
- 1 dessert spoon brown sugar
- 1 glass of common flour to coat the fish
- 1 pinch of ground black pepper
How to make cod in sanfaina:
- Start by peeling the vegetables: the peppers, the aubergine, the onion, the zucchini and the garlic, all in medium-sized cubes, except the garlic, which will be cut into very small pieces. Also prepare the tomato cut into cubes, remember that it should not have skin.
- In a wok-type pan, first fry the aubergine with a pinch of salt so that it loses its water. Let it brown a little and then take it out to reserve it and continue with the rest of the vegetables.
- Now it is the turn of the onion and garlic, sauté over low heat until the onion takes on a translucent tone, without turning completely golden. This time do not take this stir-fry out of the wok because we are going to continue adding more vegetables.
- Pour a little more oil if necessary, since at this time you will have to sauté more vegetables. Add zucchini and peppers with a pinch of salt, mix. Sauté for 10 minutes over medium heat and, halfway through cooking, add the reserved aubergine.
- Once the vegetables are sautéed, add the white wine, stir and raise the heat so that the alcohol evaporates for approximately three minutes.
- At this point, add the tomato along with the rest of the ingredients and add a teaspoon of sugar so that it loses acidity. Also add the thyme and a point of ground black pepper; rectify salt if necessary.
- Leave covered, frying at least another 10 more minutes. Stir the pan from time to time so that the juices integrate.
- In another pan, pour a glass of sunflower or seed oil so that the fish does not lose its flavor. Coat each piece of cod with flour.
- Fry once the oil is very hot for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Remove to a source with kitchen paper, so it will lose the oil that it may contain.
- Add the cod fillets to the sanfaina preparation and cook for another 7 minutes. Your cod with sanfaina is ready! You can eat it hot or cold if you prefer, this dish has no seasons and you can eat it whenever you feel like it accompanied by a good piece of country bread.
Homemade cod in sanfaina and other recipes
As we said at the beginning, the Catalan samfaina is very popular and can be prepared with different meats. Due to its variety of ingredients, it is considered a very filling and delicious dish. If you want to make the recipe lighter, you can also prepare all the ingredients in the same way, but make the cod in sanfaina in the oven.