Bacalhau à Lagareiro (Roast Salt Cod with Garlic Oil and Punched Potatoes)
- Prep
- 15 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Servings
- 4
- Calories
- 590 kcal
Bacalhau à lagareiro is one of the best-known salt cod recipes in Portugal: thick cod steaks roasted with punched potatoes, then covered at the end with plenty of olive oil and golden garlic. The cod stays juicy inside, the skin crisps a little, and the scented oil is what makes the dish.
The name comes from the olive presses (lagares), where the workers made cod with the oil pressed there. Few ingredients, but good ones.
Recipe
Bacalhau à Lagareiro
Salt cod steaks roasted and drowned in extra virgin olive oil and garlic, with punched potatoes. A simple dish that is still special enough for celebrations.
Ingredients
Method
- 1Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F).
- 2Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water until tender.
- 3Dry the cod steaks well with paper towels and lay them skin side down on a baking tray.
- 4Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cod flakes easily.
- 5Drain the potatoes, arrange them on the tray next to the cod and give each one a light punch to split it open.
- 6In a small frying pan, heat plenty of olive oil with the sliced garlic until the garlic turns lightly golden.
- 7Take the tray out of the oven and pour the hot oil and garlic generously over everything.
- 8Serve right away.
Tips
Dry the steaks well before they go in the oven, so the skin crisps.
Don’t skip the hot garlic oil at the end: it’s what sets bacalhau à lagareiro apart from ordinary roast cod.
Pick thick steaks, which stay juicy and don’t dry out so easily.
Cook the garlic only until pale gold. If it burns, the oil turns bitter.
A fresh Portuguese white, such as a vinho verde or an Alentejo white, stands up well to the olive oil.
