I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and made the most of the sunshine while it lasted. It was a weekend of extremes in Cornwall – on Saturday and Sunday we had scorching sunshine with hardly a breeze or white horse in sight; on Monday we battled against horizontal driving rain in our windbreakers (turns out I forgot my hood boo)!

On an altogether warmer holiday last year, I took my boyfriend to Seville for his 30th birthday. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we dropped our bags and ventured into the inky, balmy Spanish night, following our stomachs, in search of tapas. We managed to sniff out El Rincóncillo, Seville’s oldest tapas bar (I am told) – an evocative wood-panelled bar with traditional Moorish tiles adorning the walls and waiting staff as venerable as the institution itself. We stood at the bar, sipping on cool tinto de verano, a world away from London, scoffing plate after plate of Spain’s best offerings: slivers of creamy Manchego cheese, fresh fried white anchovies, salt cod in tomato sauce…

The cod in tomato sauce was so tasty that I came straight home and tried to recreate it. This dish is proof that white fish can stand up to big flavours and that sometimes, just sometimes, a bright red wine is the perfect accompaniment to white fish. The soft flaky fish, the fleshy tomato sauce and a kick from the sherry vinegar make this a wonderfully flavourful and nutritious option for a quick supper.

I have added butter beans to the recipe but you could just as easily leave them out and serve with potatoes or bread (or serve it ‘naked’!).

Quick cod, butter bean, and tomato stew

Serves 2

Ingredients:

– 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
– 1/2 onion, sliced
– 2 cloves garlic, sliced
– 1 tin chopped tomatoes
– 1 tablespoon tomato puree
– 1 tin butter beans
– 300g cod fillets, skin off, cut into chunks
– seasoning
– 1-2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
– small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method:

In a deep pan over a low to medium heat, sweat the onion in the oil for five minutes, being careful not to brown them.

Add the garlic and soften for a couple of minutes and then add the tomatoes and tomato puree. Simmer and reduce for about ten minutes.

Add the beans, cod, salt and freshly ground black pepper and pop the lid on. Simmer for another ten minutes or so, stirring a couple of times (very gently or your fish will fall apart!), until the fish is cooked through.

Stir in the vinegar, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

¡Que aproveche!

Source: Recipe and photos by pip & little blue.