Go Back

Ottolenghi’s Coriander-Crusted Cod with Winter Couscous

My take on two fairly complex Ottolenghi recipes.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 13 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Calories: 400
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

For the Winter Couscous:
  • 3 carrots cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 3 parsnips cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 8 shallots peeled
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 star anise
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground Turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/2 pound of butternut squash peeled or acorn squash (don’t need to peel), cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1/3 cup dried apricots roughly chopped
  • 1 15- ounce can chickpeas plus liquid
  • 1 1/2 cups water minus whatever chickpea liquid you add… doesn’t need to be exact
  • 1 1/2 cups couscous I doubled the amount in the original recipe to feed 6 people
  • Large pinch of saffron
  • 2 1/2 cups boiling vegetable stock
  • 2 tablespoons butter cut into pieces
  • 2 tablespoons harissa paste
  • 2 tablespoons preserved lemon skins chopped
For the coriander crusted fish:
  • 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves smashed
  • 1 bunch of cilantro finely chopped (I used the stems and leaves)
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 large cod filets I bought 6 filets and slightly increased the amounts of everything above, except for the spices
  • Tahini sauce

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 375. Start by mixing together the carrots, parsnips, shallots, olive oil and spices with a big pinch of salt in a 9 X 13 baking dish. Make sure everything is evenly coated and pop into the oven for 15 minutes.
  2. Now add the squash, toss all around again, and bake for 35 minutes until everything is easily pierced with a knife. Then add the apricots and chickpeas with their liquid, plus the water. (Also some more salt.) Stir all around and pop back into the oven for another ten minutes (I let it go a little longer to let the liquid reduce a little). Stir the harissa and preserved lemon peel in once it’s out of the oven and taste for salt.
  3. Sprinkle the saffron over the couscous with a nice pinch of salt in a large bowl, add the boiling vegetable stock, and cover with cling wrap for ten minutes. Then add the butter and fluff with a fork until the butter is thoroughly worked in. Set all this aside while you cook the fish.
  4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  5. Stir together the spices and set aside. This is your “fish spice mix” and you won’t use all of it… save it for the next time you make fish.
  6. In a small saucepan or skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the garlic, cook for a few seconds, then add the cilantro, 2 1/2 teaspoons of the fish spice mix, and the chili flakes. Cook 4 - 5 minutes until the garlic really softens. Set aside.
  7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pat the cod filets dry and place them skin-side down on the parchment. Rub each piece with the remaining olive oil, season with salt and some more fish spice mix, then spoon an equal amount of the cilantro topping on to each filet.
  8. Roast in the oven for 8 minutes or until a thermometer reads 145.
  9. To serve, spoon some couscous on to plates, place some winter veg next to it, and finish with the cod filet. Drizzle tahini sauce over everything and garnish with more cilantro. Voila! Wasn’t that easy?