I saw this cod recipe recipe on TV a few days ago (you know– one of those news shows where they go around videotaping restaurant chefs preparing their food), and just had to make it. It just looked delicious. It’s from some restaurant in the south of Spain, but unfortunately I didn’t write down where. I was too busy trying to get every bit of this recipe down on paper.

Now, keep in mind that this recipe is translated from Spanish, and I’m much to lazy to translate the grams and such into ounces for my American readers. (I guess English readers should be fine– you guys use the metric system, right?)

Click photos to enlarge. Serves 4.

Crema de Garbanzos con Bacalao or…
Garbanzo Cream Soup with Cod

Ingredients:
For the Garbanzos:
300 g. dry garbanzos
1 leek, in large pieces
1/2 onion
1 bay leaf

For the Soup:
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 head of garlic, chopped
1/2 a tomato, chopped
1-2 tsp. Spanish paprika
1/2 c. light cream
salt and pepper, to taste

For the Topping:
800 g. Salted Cod
1-2 leeks, julienned

Instructions: Cover the dry garbanzos with water. Add leek, onion, and bay leaf. Cook, covered, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, til tender. Or, be lazy and just open a couple of cans of cooked garbanzos. It won’t be exactly the same, but should be good enough.

Drain garbanzos, reserving broth.

For soup: saute onion in olive oil 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, saute until tender.

Toss in the tomato and paprika. Cook about 15 seconds, but don’t let the paprika burn. Add drained garbanzos, then cover with garbanzo broth.

Let simmer about 10 minutes, uncovered. Blend with a stick blender. (Or use a regular blender, but that’s a lot more trouble.)

Stir in cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

For Fish and Topping: Pan fry leeks in olive oil until very crisp. Set aside on paper towels to drain.

In a hot pan, sear fish in olive oil on both sides, about 3 minutes per side depending on thickness of fish. Do not overcook.

While fish is still hot, break into smaller pieces.

In a deep plate, serve a shallow pool of garbanzo cream. Top with cod pieces, then fried leeks.

Conclusion:

I used milk in my version to keep it lower in fat, but I think it would have been nicer with the cream the recipe called for. I also think I might toss in some spices next time (I’m thinking fresh basil) to give this a little more flavor. I tend to find most Spanish recipes a little “simple” for my tastes. But this one was good, and I’ll make it again!

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