Baccalà mantecato with polenta toasts pairs well with a very balanced, soft, and well-textured white wine, such as Tocai veneto or Verdicchio di Jesi.
Difficulty: easy
Method: 20
Cooking: 60
Chef Danilo Angè
Difficulty: easy
Method: 20
Cooking: 60
Method
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01 / Prepare the polenta
Bring 1 litre of water a boil in a pot
Once boiling, salt the water and lower the heat to simmer
Add corn flour and vigorously whisk
Cook on low heat for about 1 hour, stirring every now and then with a wooden spoon
The polenta is cooked when it comes away from the edges of the pot, forming a crust
Pour polenta into a baking dish
Let cool
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02 / Prepare the anchovy oil
Pour extra virgin olive oil into a saucepan
Add garlic
Add anchovies, drained of preservation oil
Cook over low heat, stirring until anchovies break down
Remove garlic
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03 / Cook the cod
Pour vegetable stock (with the vegetables strained out) in a pot
Wash potatoes and submerge them in stock
Cook for 30 minutes
Add cod to the same pot
Continue cooking for 15 minutes
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04 / Prepare the creamed cod
Remove potatoes, making sure they are soft
Peel and roughly cut them and put them in a bowl
Drain the fish and place on a baking sheet
Skin and bone fish
Add fish to the bowl of potatoes
Add anchovy oil in a gradual stream, whisking vigorously
As the mixture begins to come together, continue stirring with a wooden spoon until it forms a cream
Add salt and pepper to taste
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05 / Cook the polenta
Cut cooled polenta into slices
Cook on the grill or in a well-heated pan
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06 / Plate
Chop parsley
Arrange polenta slices on serving dishes
Spread cod on polenta slices
Sprinkle with chopped parsley
Wine pairing
You can prepare the polenta well in advance, even a couple of days beforehand; pour it into a baking dish, store it in the refrigerator, and grill it right before serving.
You can also prepare the vegetable stock in advance; it can be used even if you have previously frozen it.
Be careful that the cod is thoroughly desalinated, otherwise you risk a very unpleasant end result.
Even if the fish has been well-desalinated, do not add salt until the end, especially in this recipe which also contains anchovies.
Be careful to cook the anchovy oil over very gentle heat—the anchovies should only break apart and the garlic should not burn.
You can store the baccalà mantecato in the refrigerator for the next day.
You can also use it to make tasty meatballs: form small balls about 3 cm in diameter; lightly flour them and roll them first in beaten egg and then in breadcrumbs. Fry them in peanut or sunflower oil at 165°C until golden brown. They are perfect as an appetiser or as hors d’oeuvres.
If you have some polenta left over, it will also keep for two or three days covered in the refrigerator. In colder months, you can serve it alongside braised beef.
We recommend buying cod that has already been desalinated, which is much easier. If you cannot find any, proceed as follows: gently rinse the outermost layer of salt off the cod under running water for a couple of minutes. Transfer the fish to a large bowl of cold water and place it in the refrigerator for about 36 hours, changing the water every 8 hours. You can tell that the fish is desalinated by tasting the water; it should taste almost free of salt.
Ingredients for 4 people
For the cod
400 g salt cod, desalinated
300 g potatoes
3 L vegetable stock
1 clove garlic
30 g anchovies in oil
20 g parsley
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
For the polenta
200 g corn flour
1 L water
10 g salt
Wine pairing
Baccalà mantecato with polenta toasts pairs well with a very balanced, soft, and well-textured white wine, such as Tocai veneto or Verdicchio di Jesi.
