Bacalao a la Vizcaina

Every year on Good Friday my husband’s family prepares Bacalao a la Vizcaina, a salt cod stew with tomatoes and garbanzo beans. Once we moved back to the US I continued with the tradition. My mother-in-law isn’t sure where the recipe came from, only that they’ve always eaten it on this day. Its a very forgiving recipe; a simple recipe, really – the hardest part here in the US is finding the bacalao (salt cod). I’ve always had to go to a specialty retailer to find it, and I’ve had the most luck at stores that cater to Europeans.

We love this dish – its soo good – and its one of those funny dishes that we only eat once a year. I don’t know why we don’t eat it more often, but maybe that would make it less special. Its the same way with Thanksgiving; we only eat a turkey dinner with all the trimmings on that day.

 

Bacalao a la Vizcaina
serves 6

1 1/2 lbs. Bacalao (salt cod)
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 10.75-oz. can tomato purée (305g.)
3 cups water (I usually actually use three tomato puree cans which is more than 3 cups)
1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans
2 4-oz. jars diced pimientos (with liquid)
1/2 bag frozen shoestring potatoes
olive oil for sauteing onions and garlic
white rice to serve on the side

1. Prepare the salt cod for cooking by soaking it in water for several hours – I usually start by covering it in hot water and letting it steep for an hour or so, then draining the water and re-covering the fish with cold water twice more over the next few hours.You can do this step the night before if you’d like, and just leave the fish in the refrigerator.

salt cod as the first hot water is added to cover.

2. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until it has softened but not browned.

3. Add the tomato puree and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add the water and fish and bring the stew to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fish is cooked through, softened and has broken into small pieces and the liquid is almost all gone. This should take a few hours – if the stew begins to look dry too quickly you can add more water with no problem.

4. Add the pimientos and garbanzo beans and cook another 20 minutes (use this time to fix the rice and shoestring potatoes that accompany the dish).

5. Just before serving, add the heavy cream and stir thoroughly. Serve the stew with white rice, and top it with some shoestring potatoes.

Of course, this is the kind of recipe that tastes even better the next day, so you’ll be happy if there are leftovers – and if there are not quite enough leftovers for the amount of people eating, you can always add another can of garbanzo beans to stretch the stew.

We dyed Easter eggs, too!