Recipe: Cod Mussels Chickpea Stew
Its the beginning of a new year and and I may be feeling a little chubbier due to over indulging during the Christmas festivities. January is always that month when people start their new years resolutions. There is always chat of dry January and this year Veganuary seems to be happening. I don’t like restricting myself, so I don’t tend to follow any specific food regimes in terms of what I choose to eat or drink. However, I do like to to hold a healthy stance at the beginning of the year. I call it the ‘Mediterranean detox’. I try not to cook with too much dairy and red meat, but eat lots of veggies and fish while cooking recipes that satisfy my soul while at the same time helping to trim down those extra belly rolls. I love spending hours researching for recipes that tick all those boxes and already have a great list to get through . Here is a cod, mussels chickpea stew inspired by a new recipe in Giorgio Locatelli’s latest cookbook – Made in Italy.
Ingredients - 2 people
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
- 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
- 200ml water
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 500g Mussels, cleaned* (How to clean mussels)
- 70ml dry white wine
- 200g chopped tomatoes
- 100g N’duja sausage (spicy Calabrian salami)
- 400g cod loin (skinless)
- Small bunch of parsley
- 1/2 lemon zest
- Sea Salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
How to make cod mussels chickpea stew
- Pre-heat the oven 180C
- Drizzle olive oil in a pan. Fry the onion, carrot and celery until the vegetables have softened
- Add the drained chickpeas and cover with the water. Bring to the boil and the reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes and drain
- In the mean time, lets cook the mussels. In a oven proof pan, fry the garlic on a low heat without letting it brown. Then add the mussels, pour in the wine, turn up the heat to medium-high and cover with a lid. The cooking of the mussels should take about 5 minutes. Ensure you shake the pan, halfway through cooking. The mussels when finished cooking should be open. (Remember to remove any that have remained closed as these are not good to eat). Remove the mussels from the pan with a slotted spoon. Leave the juices and garlic in the pan. Shell half the mussels, leave the rest with it on.
- Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
- Then add the chickpeas and veg and cook for another 10 minutes. Taste and season if necessary.
- Cut the cod into 4-6 pieces, season with salt and pepper.
- Add the mussels to the chickpea stew and place the cod pieces on top.
- Cover the pan with a lid and bake in the oven for 15 minutes
- In the mean time, finely chop the parsley and mix with 1 garlic (finely chopped) and lemon zest to create a topping for the fish
- Remove the pan from the oven. Serve the cod and stew in bowl and add the garlic, parsley mix on top.
