Cod with lentil ratatouille

Cod on a lentil ratatouille is a delicious and simple fish dish. Moreover, the chorizo sausages are the surprising seasoning in this combination. Lentils and chorizo sausages are a very good food pairing anyway. Learn much more about this below the recipe.

How to make cod with lentil ratatouille?

This lentil ratatouille with cod is a one-pot dish. These are always easy to make. And moreover this means you have less washing up afterwards. But before we pull out the pan, we first spend fifteen minutes on the preparations, the "mise en place". And only fifteen minutes later, your ratatouille with cod will already be ready.

The preparations

First we finely chop the vegetables and the chorizo sausage. For that we start with the onions. We remove the skin from both onions and then cut them in half. Then we cut the half onions into rings.

We proceed analogously for the carrots. We peel the carrots and then halve them lengthwise. Then we cut them into half moons.

Next follows the red pointed pepper. We remove the green stem and then halve it lengthwise. Then we remove the seeds. Finally we cut them into pieces that fit well in the mouth.

We halve the chorizo sausage, and then cut the two halves in half again. So we have four quarters of chorizo. We then cut these into fine pieces. The chorizo is particularly tasty because of the fat and the paprika it contains. It makes the ratatouille extra tasty.

Finally, we zip the thyme leaves from the stems. Here it is especially important that we do not mix harder stalks under the ratatouille. The leaves and thin twigs cook smoothly and also contribute to the delicious taste.

Rinse the pre-cooked lentils under the tap and let them drain. You will see that this foams quite a bit. This is due to the substances that the lentils release into the storage water. Do your really need to rinse the lentils? No, certainly not. But I usually do it because you don't know what other preservatives are in that cooking water. Just to be safe and sure.

Preparing the one pot dish

For two people, this amount just fits in a medium-sized pan. For larger quantities you might need a larger pan. Or a wok or a large cooking pot.

In the pan we heat a tablespoon of olive oil. We then fry the onion, chorizo and carrots in it for a few minutes. Until the onion becomes translucent. The chorizo, meanwhile, will release its fat and contribute to the delicious taste of the ratatouille.

Then we add the red pointed pepper, the lentils and the tomato cubes. Stir everything well and then add the thyme and oregano. Then we stir everything together again and then bring the ratatouille back to the boil.

In the meantime, we can work on the cod. We season it with salt and pepper. Once the ratatouille is cooking, we put the cod on top. Then the lid can be put on and the fire can be lowered a bit. After ten minutes of simmering, the cod and lentil ratatouille are ready.

Set the cod aside for a moment and then spoon the lentil ratatouille into deep plates. Then put the cod on top and serve immediately. I hope it tastes well!

About lentils

Lentils are legumes that are widely used in Arabic and Indian cuisine. But nowadays they are also very popular in other regions, not least because, like many other legumes, they are a good meat substitute.

Lentils come in different colors, which also have different cooking times. This basically depends on the thickness of the pod. Red and yellow lentils have a short cooking time of less than fifteen minutes. You don't have to soak them in advance either, because then they will fall apart completely.

Then we have the green lentils and beluga lentils. They are cooked in half an hour. You can also soak them in advance. This shortens the cooking time to twenty minutes.

Finally, we have the brown lentils. These are also the lentils we use for this ratatouille. But they have to cook for up to an hour before they are done. It is also strongly recommended to soak them beforehand. Then half an hour of cooking will suffice.

Pre-cooked lentils or not?

As you could read above, we use brown lentils for this ratatouille. But with uncooked lentils your dish will of course never be ready in half an hour. Either they have to cook for an hour, or you have to soak them well beforehand to reduce cooking time. But you have to plan enough additional time anyway if you want to cook the lentils from scratch. Or you can cook them in advance so that you can quickly prepare the ratatouille afterwards.

But luckily you can also buy lentils in a pack or in a can. They are already pre-cooked and can be processed immediately. The ideal option for those who want to prepare a quick midweek evening meal.

Lentils and chorizo sausages

Lentils and chorizo are a dream team. They pair so well together that I often cook and prepare them together. A winter classic, for example, is red lentil soup with chorizo.

Learn more about lentils in the following articles:

• Lentil - Wikipedia.
• Lentils: nutrition, benefits and how to cook it (Healthline).
• How to prepare canned lentils (Youtube).
• Lentils: the big health benefits of tiny seeds (Cleveland clinic).

More surprising.fish

We have the habit of serving fish once a week. So there is a weekly challenge to have inspiring and surprising ideas for delicious recipes with fish. Here you my find some more inspiration:

• Fish stew with green and white asparagus.
• Fiskasúpa - Icelandic fish soup.
• Delicious seafood fricassee.
• Fish casserole with tomato-apple sauce.
• Pangasius in tomato saffron sauce.

More surprising.lentils

As mentioned earlier, lentils are now a very popular legume, which can be used very versatile. Below you will find fun and surprising recipes with lentils:

• Vegetarian red lentil Bolgonese.
• Red lentil soup with chorizo.
• Soup of sweet potatoes and lentils.

If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.