recipe: BACALHAU PIE

"BACALHAU" or dried & salted cod is probably the most ubiquitous food in Portugal. 500 years ago when there were no freezers, somebody decided to salt cod to preserve it and somehow, we still do it and love it! Now, I'm not sure why we keep doing it, because you can just use fresh cod, but we seem to be proud of this tradition and have more than (we say) 1001 says of cooking it. This recipe reminds me of home and it changes everytime I do it. And tonight I made it just for myself...ultimate comfort food.

IMPORTANT::: if you are using salted/ dry cod, you will need to soak it overnight and change the water several times so it doesn't taste like pure salt!!

Now, I thought I was making it for 2 meals for me (I'm a petite so, It isnt's much), but in the end I ate it all...bad bad girl...so, give it a go and double or triple the recipe if you are making it for more than 2 people.
1 piece of salted cod (150/200 g) soaked overnight, 2 tbs olive oil, 1 bay leaf, 1 garlic clove crushed, 1/2 onion thinly sliced, 1 red capsicum, 2 handfuls of spinach (not necessary, I had spare), 1/4 cup white whine, 3 tbs flat-leaf parsley chopped, 1 egg lightly beaten, freshly ground black pepper, pinch of nutget, 2 large potatoes, salt, a knob of butter and a splash of milk

1. Boil the bacalhau, when it is cooked, remove from the pan, let it cool and flake it removing the skin and bones. Set aside
2. Boils the potatoes and make mash: add butter, some milk (or water), salt and pepper to taste (do not use too much salt at this stage since the cod could still be quite salty, wait till the cod mixture is done and then adjust the flavours)
3. Heat the oil in a sauce pan, add the garlic and bay leaf. Cook for a couple of minutes and add the onion (cook in low heat). Cook the onion, stirring occasionally until it softens.
4. Add the capsicum previously diced in tiny squares and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the cod and the wine and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Finally add the spinach and mix everything. Remove from heat and add the chopped parsley. (don't forget to remove the bay leaf)
7. Turn your oven on to 180C and pour half the cod mixture on to a small baking pan (I used a 15x15x 6 cm one)
8. Put the mashed potatoes over the top and brush with the egg wash. Coarsely ground some pepper over the top and its ready to go to the oven.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until its golden on top. Serve with a salad.

p.s.1. I didn't need any salt for the cod mixture since the bacalhau was salted, but you will have to adjust the flavours as you go along.

p.s.2. I have made this dish for a dinner party and replaced the spinach for 1 diced tomato and used yellow, red and green capsicum so it was really colorful and pretty and everybody said it was good!

p.s.3. The remaining half of the bacalhau will be used tomorrow for another pie or for small pastries, depending on my mood.

Hope you like it.