Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 4 medium cod fillets, skinless (approx. 120g / 4.2oz each)
  • salt and white pepper
  • 2 large tomatoes (cut into wedges)
  • 2 cloves garlic (peeled and finely chopped)
  • 180 g double cream
  • 50 g full-fat cream cheese (soft cheese)
  • 50 g soured cream
  • 1 TB tomato concentrated puree
  • 10 g unsalted butter
  • 1/2 lemon
  • sea salt flakes
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme (leaves picked)

Instruction

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan oven). This is 200°C for conventional ovens (or 400°F / gas mark 6).
  • Remove the cod from its packaging and pat dry with kitchen paper. Season all sides with salt and white pepper then place into a suitable size ovenproof dish where all 4 fillets can sit a little snug.
  • Cut both tomatoes into 8 wedges so you are left with approximately 16 thin wedges. Use a knife to slide out the fleshy seed area and set it aside. You will see why later. Finely chop the garlic cloves.
  • Whisk the double cream, soured cream, cream cheese and tomato concentrate in a bowl until there are no lumps.
  • Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan or wok and gently cook the garlic over moderately low heat until it softens. Add the fleshy, seedy tomato bits from earlier along with the juice of half a lemon (catch the pips!).
  • After ensuring my lemon half was squeezed and pip-free, I chopped it in half and added it to the pan. The flavour it adds is great! Cook the mixture over moderate heat. Squash or break down the mixture with your spatula or wooden spoon and continue to cook until all the moisture evaporates and you are left with a chunky mixture.NOTE: I added this step for two reasons: Firstly, because I didn't want the end-result of my baked dish to be too watery. If I had kept the tomato wedges as they were, that would have been the result. I certainly didn't want to discard that fleshy, seedy bit either - so cooking it out was an ideal solution. Secondly, I wanted a cooked tomato flavour in the sauce which I would not have achieved as well if the tomato wedges were simply poaching in the cream.
  • Right back to the recipe, pour the creamy mixture into the pan and increase the heat. Cook for 2 minutes stirring regularly until the sauce warms through and reduces a little. At this point, you can use tongs to remove and discard the lemon chunks. Season the sauce with salt and white pepper.
  • Add the uncooked tomato wedges into the dish with the cod and pour the warm sauce over. Place the dish onto a tray (for easier removal / rotation) and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. (I always rotate my tray halfway through out of habit.)
  • To serve, season with sea salt flakes and freshly picked thyme leaves. Serve over Cauliflower Mash or Cauliflower Rice to mop up that lovely sauce. Funnyman and I actually flaked the fish after cooking and enjoyed the whole lot as a sauce over shirataki (konjac) noodles for a wickedly delicious low carb meal!