Cornish cod loin with spaghetti, wild garlic pesto, crispy pancetta, pangrattato

  • medium
  • 4
  • 60 minutes
Not yet rated

Paul Ainsworth serves up his simple baked cod loin recipe atop a bed of spaghetti, coated in a wild garlic pesto and studded with rich, crispy pancetta. If you have more time to cook, rubbing the fish in salt and setting aside in the fridge for a couple of hours before cooking will firm up the flesh for baking.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Cod loin

  • 600g of cod loin, cut into 4 equal portions
  • 400g of spaghetti
  • 100g of pancetta, or smoked streaky bacon
  • 200ml of fish stock, or vegetable stock (good quality)
  • 60g of pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 100g of crème fraîche
  • 20g of basil, chopped
  • 20g of parsley, chopped
  • 20g of wild garlic, chopped
  • 50g of butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 25g of vegetable oil

Wild garlic pesto

Pangrattato

To serve

Equipment

  • Pestle and mortar
  • Food processor

Method

1
To begin, make the wild garlic pesto. Place the basil, wild garlic and pine nuts in a pestle, grind to a course paste then gradually grind in the rest of the ingredients until you reach a pesto consistency
2
To make the pangrattato, add all of the ingredients to food processor and blitz until broken down into fine breadcrumbs
3
Place a pan over a medium heat, add the butter and once foaming, add the breadcrumb mixture. Roast until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and have a nice crunch. Place on a tray and set aside
4
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
5
Place a large pan of heavily salted water over a high heat and bring to the boil
6
When ready to cook, lightly season the cod loin and place on a buttered baking tray. Bake for 10–12 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to rest in a warm place
  • 600g of cod loin, cut into 4 equal portions
7
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Meanwhile, add the vegetable oil to a heavy-based pan and fry the pancetta until crispy and brown. Add the butter for an extra crisp finish, then deglaze with the stock. Allow to reduce slightly then add 300g of the wild garlic pesto, the pine nuts, lemon juice and crème fraîche
  • 400g of spaghetti
  • 200ml of fish stock, or vegetable stock (good quality)
  • 60g of pine nuts, toasted
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 50g of butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 25g of vegetable oil
  • 100g of crème fraîche
  • 100g of pancetta, or smoked streaky bacon
8
Add the fresh herbs to the sauce. Drain the spaghetti, tip into the sauce and stir until everything is well-coated
9
To serve, divide the spaghetti between plates and top with the baked cod. Add an even layer of pangrattato to the cod, then garnish with some chopped wild garlic and a few wild garlic flowers

Southampton-born Paul Ainsworth got his break courtesy of Gary Rhodes, whom he worked for three years. After that, he moved to Gordon Ramsay's organisation, working first at his flagship Royal Hospital Road restaurant and then with Marcus Wareing at Petrus.

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