AI-generated image
Baccalà alla vicentina
Stockfish in milk
Baccalà alla vicentina: Vicenza's stockfish slow-cooked in milk and olive oil
ItalianIn Vicenza, "baccalà" means stockfish: cod dried hard in the wind of the Lofoten Islands in Norway, a trade dating back to a Venetian captain shipwrecked there in 1432. The fish is soaked for days until soft, then cooked very slowly for hours with onion, anchovies, milk and olive oil until it is tender and creamy. It is a feast-day dish, served on Christmas Eve and in September at the town's festival, always with soft or grilled polenta. Many fishmongers sell stockfish ready soaked, which saves several days. Chef's tip: never let the pot boil; it should barely tremble the whole time, or the fish turns stringy and dry.
- Total time
- 280 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ lb soaked stockfishready soaked from the fishmonger, or soak dry fish for 3–4 days, changing the water twice a day
- 1 ¾ oz plain flouror rice flour for gluten free
- 2 onionsthinly sliced
- 1 ¼ cups extra virgin olive oilmild
- 4 anchovy fillets in oilchopped
- 3 tbsp flat-leaf parsleychopped
- 1 ⅜ oz Grana Padanograted
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 10 ½ oz polenta (optional)cooked soft or grilled, to serve
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (3)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Open 2 ¼ lb soaked stockfish along the belly, remove the backbone and as many bones as you can, and cut into 6 cm pieces, keeping the skin on.
Step 2: Cook 2 onions in a third of 1 ¼ cups extra virgin olive oil over a low heat for 15 minutes, until soft and golden. Add 4 anchovy fillets in oil and 3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley and stir until the anchovies melt.
15 minStep 3: Dust the fish pieces in 1 ¾ oz plain flour mixed with 1 ⅜ oz Grana Padano, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper.
Step 4: Spread half of the onions in a wide, heavy pan or terracotta dish. Lay the fish on top, skin side down, in a single snug layer, and cover with the rest of the onions.
Step 5: Pour in 2 cups whole milk and the rest of the oil until the fish is just covered. Bring very slowly to a bare simmer, then cook on the lowest heat for about 4 hours, uncovered, without stirring, shaking the pan gently now and then. Common mistake: letting it boil; it must just tremble. The fish is ready when it flakes at a touch and the sauce is thick and creamy.
240 minStep 6: Rest for 10 minutes and serve with 10 ½ oz polenta. It is even better reheated the next day.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 55 g
- Carbs
- 12 g
- Fat
- 27 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does baccalà alla vicentina take?
- About 280 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 240 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Boiled pasta
The basic method for any dried pasta, from penne to spaghetti. A large pan of salted boiling water keeps the pasta from sticking, and you cook it only until just done, with a little bite left. Use it in salads, bakes or with any sauce.
Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter
Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.
Australian
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Spanish