Braised cannellini beans with roasted cod and sage oil Paired with Millbrook Single Vineyard Chardonnay.
Image credit Millbrook Winery
If you are lucky enough to have your own garden to pick and cook from that’s great, if not the next best thing would be to use some produce from your local farmer’s market. This recipe will feed 6 hungry vineyard workers for lunch.
Ingredients-
- Braise-
- 1kg fresh cannellini beans
- 3 large tomatoes, cored and cut in quarters
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- Couple of bay leaves
- 100ml olive oil
- Enough water to nearly cover
- Salt and pepper
- 800g fillet cod
- 1 bunch cavolo nero kale, roughly chopped
- Sage oil-
- Small clove of garlic, peeled
- 3 sprigs of sage
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lemon
- 50ml olive oil
Method-
Pre heat oven to 170c
Place all ingredients for braise, apart from kale and cod, in a heavy based pot and bring to the boil, stir, skim away any floating froth, put lid on or cover with foil and place in oven. Cook for 25 minutes then carefully remove from oven, chuck the kale in the pot and gently stir to incorporate. Recover and place back in the oven for a further 20 minutes.
While the beans are cooking make the sage oil by pounding the garlic in a mortar and pestle. Add the sage leaves, salt and pepper and smash to a paste. Squeeze in the juice of the lemon to bring the vibrant green back to the bruised sage, then add olive oil.
The beans are ready once they are soft and creamy but still holding their shape. Mush the tomatoes and garlic up on the side of the pot with the back of your spoon and stir through to thicken sauce, adjust seasoning. If you want to be fancy remove the tomato skins. Now for the cod, place the seasoned cod on top of the beans and gently sink fish into beans leaving 2/3 exposed. Keeping the pot uncovered, return the pot to the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.
Serve in the middle of the table with crusty bread and a bottle of wine.
