This Spanish dish, called ajoarriero, typically uses salt cod (bacalao), which needs to be soaked overnight to soften and remove the salt. We’re using lingcod along with the classic tomato, olives, roasted peppers, and potatoes, but any firm white fish like rockfish, cod, or halibut will do.
Ingredients
- Salt and fresh ground pepper
- 12 ounces small red potatoes, quartered
- 1 portion lingcod (10 to 14 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 teaspoon smoked or regular paprika
- 1 shallot or ½ small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- ½ cup thickly-sliced, jarred roasted red peppers
- 1 large garlic clove, very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 (15-ounce) can stewed tomatoes with their juices (or whole plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped)
- ½ cup pitted green Spanish olives
- Crusty bread for serving
Directions
COOK THE POTATOES
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook just until barely tender when pierced with a knife, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.
SEAR THE FISH AND POTATOES
Drizzle the fish lightly with oil, then rub with the paprika and a pinch each of salt and pepper. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the fish and cook, turning once, until lightly seared, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate.
Add the potatoes to the skillet and cook turning once, just until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to the plate with the fish.
SIMMER THE SAUCE
Add the shallot, roasted peppers, and garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine and simmer until the liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices along with ½ cup water. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the liquid is slightly reduced, 5 to 7 minutes.
FINISH AND SERVE
Nestle the fish, potatoes, and olives into the sauce. Cover partially, and cook until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Break the fish into large pieces and transfer to shallow bowls. Spoon the vegetables and pan sauce all around the fish, drizzle generously with olive oil, and serve.
Pro Tips
Pair it Up
Pour any light and fruity white or rose from Spain, such as albariño or txakolina rosado.
Spice it Up
Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes for spice and jarred piquillo peppers for a more authentic flavor.
Change it Up
Turn leftovers into a quick and easy bouillabaisse by adding a bit of fish stock or clam juice and serving with crunchy crostini.
Know Your Cook
Grace Parisi
Culinary Director Grace Parisi is a cook, writer and cookbook author. Formerly the Senior Test Kitchen Editor at Food & Wine Magazine and Executive Food Director at TimeInc Books, her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Health, O Magazine, Epicurious, Fitness, Today, Serious Eats, Martha Stewart, and many more. She’s the author of more than 6 books, among them The Portlandia Cookbook and Get Saucy, which was nominated for a James Beard award for Best Single Subject Cookbook.
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