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Roasted cod with a cilantro crust
The combination of fish and tahini is one we find hard to resist, but this works just as well without the tahini sauce if you’re looking for a shortcut or want to keep the focus on the lemon. Either way, this is as close to fast food as you can get. It’s a 15-minute meal to make, beginning to end. Possibly even less time to eat. If you are using the tahini sauce, make the whole quantity of the master recipe. It keeps in the fridge for about four days and is lovely to have around to drizzle over all sorts of roasted vegetables, meat, fish, and salads.
Playing around: Any other meaty white fish works just as well here; sea bass or halibut, for example. Salmon also works well.
SERVES
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons/60millilitres olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2-1/2 cups/50 grams cilantro, finely chopped
- 2-1/2 cups/50 grams cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
- Salt and black pepper
- 4 large cod fillets (or another sustainably sourced white fish), skin on (about 700 grams)
- 4 large fresh bay leaves (optional)
- 2 lemons: 1 cut into 8 very thin slices, 1 quartered lengthwise into wedges
- About 1/4 cup/65 grams tahini sauce (optional)
Fish spice mix:
- 2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F. Line a roasting dish with parchment paper. Put two tablespoons of oil into a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for ten seconds, then add the cilantro, fish spice mix, chile flakes, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and a grind of black pepper. Cook for four to five minutes, stirring frequently, for the garlic to really soften, then remove from the heat.
- Place the cod in the prepared roasting dish, skin side down, and brush with the remaining two tablespoons of oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then spoon the cilantro mix on top of each fillet. Spread it out so that the whole top is covered, then top each one with a bay leaf (if using), along with two slices of lemon. Roast for seven to eight minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Serve at once, with about one tablespoon of tahini sauce drizzled over, if desired, and lemon wedges alongside.
Fish spice:
- Place all the spices in a bowl and mix well to combine. If making more than you need, transfer to a sealed container.
Excerpted from 'Falastin' by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley. Copyright © 2020 Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
