Fish & Seafood Recipes

Heirloom tomato and cod one pot with chorizo & kale

Cod with tomatoes, kale and chorizo

I really like Bear Fruit greengrocers in Bristol’s Bear pit (NB 2019 sadly now closed down). It’s where I picked up these gorgeous heirloom tomatoes. It’s a brilliant little place which is on my walk home from town so I quite often pop in on my way back and see what they’ve got. In the past, the Bear Pit was considered a place to avoid and although it’s still a little rough around the edges, these days, it’s full of life with Bear Fruits and Bearittos at home there, plus the weekly Bristol Eats street food market and skateboarders constantly practising their tricks.

Bear Fruits in Bristol's Bear Pit

As well as my heirloom tomatoes, I picked up an enormous bag of kale and some spring onions! I wanted to do something special with the tomatoes rather than stick them in a salad or gobble them up with a sprinkle of sea salt and I had a couple of pieces of cod in the fridge so this meal ended up being a one pot version of the classic combo of fish, tomatoes and chorizo. The cooking technique looks messy but by keeping it all in one pan, it extracted maximum flavour from the tomatoes.

You’ll know by now just how much I love kale and throwing a handful in towards the end of cooking was a genius move, even if I say so myself. It wilted down but kept an element of crunch which worked perfectly with the soft texture of the fish and tomatoes. If you don’t have kale, you could try spinach or spring greens.

Kale with cod and tomatoes

Ingredients: (serves 2)

  • 2 skinless cod fillets 
  • 120g chorizo cut into 1cm slices
  • 3 heirloom tomatoes
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • 3-4 spring onions, thickly sliced on an angle
  • 1 red chilli, finely diced
  • A handful of kale, tough stems removed.

Method: 

You need a deep frying pan with a lid for this dish. Everything goes in together, one pot style. 
  • Dry fry the chorizo for around 5 minutes until it’s released its oils and is starting to crisp on the edges.
  • Add the spring onions, chilli and garlic and fry for a few minutes until softened.
  • Cut the tomatoes into quarters and add to the pan. You can remove the skins. I prefer to leave them for texture but it’s totally your choice.
  • After 5 minutes once the tomatoes have softened but before they’ve started breaking down, push everything to the sides of the pan and turn the heat up.
  • Season the fish and add it to the pan (into the space) allowing it to fry and colour on the bottom for a few minutes. Gently turn the fish to colour both sides and stir the tomato mixture so it’s nestled all around the fish.
  • Add a dash of water and the kale.
  • Pop the lid on, drop the heat down and cook for around 10 minutes so that the fish is cooked through and the kale has wilted.

Cod with heirloom tomatoes

Serve with buttered and boiled new potatoes and season with a good crack of salt and pepper. This isn’t the prettiest bowl of food but cooking it all together lets the flavours mingle. The heirloom tomatoes are so sweet and full of flavour, they are the star of this dish. If you don’t have cod, you could make this with any firm white fish like Pollack for example.

If you fancy some more inspiration on fish dishes, try these from my fellow food bloggers:

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