[Codfish with Fava Beans, Cranberries and Pistachios]
This is the main dish I served one Saturday night when friends came for dinner. The idea arrived almost by chance while browsing cookbooks — I pictured baked fish on a bed of vibrant vegetables. It became cod fillets baked on a base of sautéed green onions, finished with fava beans, fresh cranberries and shelled pistachios.
We served it with quinoa that I cooked with onions and herbs and cooled, and with warm long-grain rice. Both sides were neatly plated for presentation.
Baking fish in a foil-covered dish is a technique I recommend: it’s a gentle method that keeps the fish moist while steam carries and concentrates the flavors of the other ingredients. In this recipe the mild sweetness of green onions, fava beans and pistachios balances the tartness of cranberries and a squeeze of lime. Texturally, the soft green onions, the tender beans, the crunchy pistachios and the juicy cranberries complement the pleasantly firm cod. The result is colorful, light and satisfying.
Because the dish is fairly light it left room for the cheese course we enjoyed afterward. We selected a few favorites from our local cheese shop: Maroilles, a rich Camembert, Reblochon, a farmhouse chèvre, Brebis du Larzac and Brocciu. We served the Brocciu — a fresh Corsican sheep’s-milk cheese — with membrillo (quince paste). The combination was a favorite with the group.
Cabillaud aux Fèves, Airelles et Pistaches
– 6 cod fillets
– 1 bunch green onions
– 2 cups shelled fava beans
– 1 cup cranberries
– 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, unsalted
– juice of half a lime
– olive oil
– salt and pepper
(Serves 6.)
Rinse the green onions, trim the roots, and cut into 1-inch pieces, keeping the white and green parts separated. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet, add the white parts, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften. Add the green parts, adjust seasoning and cook another 5 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Grease a baking dish and spread the cooked green onions evenly across the bottom. Place the cod fillets on top and season with salt and pepper. Scatter the raw fava beans, cranberries and pistachios over the fillets. Drizzle a little olive oil and the lime juice over everything.
Tightly cover the dish with foil and bake for 20–30 minutes, depending on oven and fillet thickness. Check after 20 minutes: the fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork and is opaque and white inside.
Serve immediately. Use a wide spatula to lift each fillet together with its bed of green onions and the fava-cranberry-pistachio topping. Spoon some of the pan juices over the fish and accompany with rice and/or quinoa.
You can assemble this dish a few hours earlier and keep it covered in the refrigerator. If chilled, allow the green onions to cool before placing the fish on top so the residual heat won’t start cooking the fillets. When ready, slide the covered dish into the oven about 30 minutes before serving.