Baccalà is something thatss available world wide and the Portuguese, in particular, favour it.  Here’s our recipe for the Neapolitan version – it’s supremely satisfying and undoubtedly southern Italian. There’s nothing as satisfying as a dish of hot, aromatic salted cod baked in the sweet tomatoes, that grow in the rich volcanic soils of the land around Vesuvius, olives, capers and chopped fresh parsley. Soak the cod for 24 hours and refresh the water at least twice – prepare the dish and pop into the overn, serve with crusty bread, crisp green salad and good glass of chilled white wine.

Ingredients

• 1 kg salted cod
• 100 ml excellent extra virgin olive oil (try Garguilo, organic extra virgin olive oil from near Sorrento)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 500g ripe Italian tomatoes, peeled, deseeded & chopped
• 200 g black, pitted Italian olives, left whole
• 50 g salted capers, rinsed and lightly squeezed dry
• 1 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 lemons, zest only
• Salt to taste and only if you got rid of it when soaking
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Flour for dredging

Method

• Soak the salted cod in several changes of cold fresh water (at least overnight) but to make absolutely sure, break off a small piece and check for saltiness before you prepare it.
• You can always ask the fishmonger what he would suggest
• Preheat oven to 160 C
• Remove the cod, rinse well and pat dry with paper towels.
• Cut into bite sized chunks, discard bones and skin and dredge with flour.
• I simply put the flour in a plastic bag, toss the fish in and shake to cover all the pieces effectively.
• Heat half the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat and fry the garlic very lightly until it is just soft.
• Take the pan off the stove and remove the garlic with a slotted spoon or, sieve the oil into a little bowl.
• Use that oil and fry the chopped tomatoes, olives, capers and black pepper for about 15 minutes over low heat until they begin to soften and remove.
• Add the rest of the olive oil to the tomatoes with the zest, salt to taste and half the parsley.
• Check and correct the taste.
• Now add the cod and fry lightly over medium heat for about 15 minutes, adding freshly ground pepper at the end.
• Transfer to an ovenproof dish and bake, covered in the preheated oven for another 15 minutes.
• Serve with hot, crusty bread and a bottle of cold Falerno del Massico DOC from the Villa Matilde in Campania.
• It seems only right that one drinks wines from Campania with this dish that belongs, absolutely to Naples!