Spanish Style Cod with Tomato Saffron Broth

I usually laugh at most gourmet recipes that are labeled as “weeknight meal.”  Lets be real.  No one has time to make that “so easy” recipe that involves chopping 10 ingredients. (This attitude may be why I usually end up eating out 4 days/ week.)  But really.  I think a weeknight meal needs to involve chopping 2 ingredients max, and should take less than 30 minutes to make.  None of this Rachel Ray nonsense of behaving like a maniac trying to make a mediocre 3 course meal into 30 minutes.  No.  I want a recipe that’s intended to be quick and doesn’t need to be forced.

As such, this recipe for Spanish Style Cod with Tomato Saffron Broth is literally one of the fastest gourmet recipes I’ve ever made.  In fact, I would challenge you to take longer than 30 minutes to prepare this meal.   Fish, of course, is extremely quick to prepare due to the very short cooking time. For this recipe, all you need to do is chop some garlic, heat up some olive oil, pour some wine, and poach the salmon.  And it’s extremely tasty!

This recipe is a inspired by Spanish method for preparing meat poached in tomato sauce. I love Spanish cuisine in general for the color, flavor, and ubiquitous use of saffron. See that orange color below? That’s the saffron, baby.

Anyway, for anyone who likes to make incredibly easy plus delicious recipes, this one is for you.  Dave and I had it with some crusty sourdough bread from Bread and Cie (heaven on earth), which was excellent for dunking.  The sauce is basically all white wine- who can argue with that?  
 
Look at the pretty saffron!  You can go all out and buy some incredibly expensive saffron.  However, I prefer to go the cheap route on this and get it from trader joes.  They sell it for $5.99!

Make sure you get decent quality canned tomatoes for this recipe as it’s a main flavor in the sauce.  You don’t want anything that’s going to taste overly sour or metallic.  I usually use San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes.  

Close up of the poached cod.

Spanish Style Cod with Tomato Saffron Broth

Recipe from Epicurious

4.67 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 4 6- oz cod fillets thawed, if using frozen
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or more if you like extra spicy
• 14.5 oz can of whole tomatoes drained
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch of saffron threads
• 2 cups of dry white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Heat olive oil in skillet over medium- low heat. Add garlic red pepper flakes and saute until garlic is fragrant and softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add tomatoes to the pan, breaking the tomatoes apart with your hands as you add them.
• Add white wine, water, saffron, and bay leaves. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium high heat. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until tomatoes are softened and mixture is slightly reduced. Taste sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Reduce heat to low. Add cod fillets. Spoon sauce over fillets. Simmer for about 5-8 minutes, or until cod is opaque and beginning to flake on the sides.
• Serve with crusty sourdough or french bread to soak up the sauce.