Roasted Cod and Potatoes

By Mark Bittman

Roasted Cod and Potatoes
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(3,857)
Comments
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When one of my daughters, Emma, was young, there was a time when her main passion in life was potatoes, especially crispy ones. For one special occasion, I produced a classic French dish, potatoes Anna, in which potatoes are thin-sliced, drenched in butter, carefully layered and roasted until golden. This was an error, of course; potatoes Anna is a pain to make. Naturally, the demand was unrelenting thereafter.

So, in an attempt to make the effort more rational, I cut down on the butter, cut short the preparation time by enlisting the aid of the broiler during the last few minutes of cooking, and decided to turn this one dish into something approaching an entire meal. In the last few minutes, before the potatoes were cooked through, I placed a thick fillet of fish on top of the potatoes. The result is a simple weeknight dish that I now make routinely, and one that even seems to impress the occasional guest.

Featured in: The Minimalist; Taking a Different Tack on Fish and Chips

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 4 or 5medium potatoes, 2 pounds or more
  • 6tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1½pounds cod or other fillets, about 1-inch thick (skinned), in 2 or more pieces
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

453 calories; 22 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 15 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 34 grams protein; 973 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes, and cut them into slices about ⅛-inch thick (a mandoline comes in handy here). Toss the potatoes in an 8-by-12-inch or similar size baking pan with 4 tablespoons of the oil or butter. Season the potatoes liberally, spread them evenly and place the pan in the oven.

  2. Step 2

    Cook for about 40 minutes, checking once or twice, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a thin-bladed knife and have begun to brown on top. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Turn on the broiler, and adjust the rack so that it is 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.

  3. Step 3

    Top the potatoes with the fish, drizzle with the remaining oil or butter and sprinkle with some more salt and pepper. Broil until the fish is done, 6 to 10 minutes, depending on its thickness (a thin-bladed knife will pass through it easily). If at any point the top of the potatoes begins to burn, move the pan a couple of inches farther away from the heat source.

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4 out of 5
3,857 user ratings
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Comments

Christie

Easy and enjoyable. Might add sliced onions to potatoes next time for a bit more flavor. Or fennel. God, I love fennel.

Ellen

This was delicious as written. I have access to good fish. I tossed the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. Make sure you liberally season them! It matters. Roasted them as directed on a half sheet pan. That allowed them to spread out and get crisp and browned. I transferred the potatoes to a heated 12" cast iron skillet, sprinkled them with fresh thyme, and laid the fish on them and drizzled with good butter. Broiled as directed. Served with new spring asparagus and lemon wedges. Divine.

Yogamom

You might try a method that I use, based on a Deborah Madison recipe. It works well every time and results in a creamy, completely cooked potato and gives you the ability to control the amount of browning/crispiness: butter or oil the baking dish well, prepare as directed, and then add a few tablespoons of broth or water to the dish, COVER the dish tightly and roast the potatoes until soft (time depends on the amount - approx 20-40 min). Then uncover the dish and roast until crispy.

SR

I’ve made this almost a dozen times exactly as written and it is superb. It also presents very nicely. I add a sprinkle of parsley at the end for dinner parties! I slice the potatoes with my food processor which makes for light work. My family cannot get enough of the potatoes!

Debra

I took the advice in some comments. I made this for 2 people, using .83 lbs of cod cut in 4 pieces, and 1.5 large yukon potatoes mandolin sliced. I added sliced onions to the potatoes, plus some fresh thyme and rosemary, butter and OO, baked at 400 for 25 minutes. I diluted Greek yogurt with water, coated the fish and rolled the pieces in toasted panko. Topped the potatoes with some spinach, put the fish on top, baked it 12-14 minutes. Delicious, but next time I might add a squeeze of lemon.

KrisJ

I made this by doing potatoes on a sheet pan and then transferring to a pre-warmed cast iron for the fish part. Not sure if the transfer was necessary or not. The main thing I changed was adding a sweet potato and a little dash of thyme. Came out surprisingly tasty for how easy this was!

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