Spanish Style Cocido with Cod, Shrimp, and Chorizo
COCIDO de bacalao, gambas, y chorizo
There isn’t a particular region or specific area in Spain where this dish is from—this is more about the seasonings that are emblematic to Spanish cooking. Many of the ingredients in the list make for wonderful food souvenirs from your visits to public markets and shops during your travels: Extra virgin olive oil, cumin, pimenton dulce, and Ñora pepper paste. No doubt every time you make this dish you’ll think about the day you purchased those ingredients! And to keep the goodness going at home you can easily find these items online at retailers like The Spanish Table or La Tienda.
Photo by David Shalleck
This method is a wonderful way to cook seafood and similar to many other versions found throughout the Mediterranean. You can use other tender, flaked fish like bass, grouper, halibut, and snapper. Adding some mussels or clams to the pot will certainly make the dish “of the sea.”
Makes 4 main-course servings
The amount given with a “QB” ingredient is a suggestion. “QB” stands for “quanto basta.” It basically means in Italian “how much is needed.” It’s up to you how much or how little to use. The amount may also change due to the quality of the ingredient or how old it is.
2 tablespoons Spanish extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin QB
1/4 teaspoon Spanish pimenton “dulce” QB
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup light shrimp broth*
2/3 cup tomato puree
2 teaspoons Ñora or Choricero pepper paste QB
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Four 5-ounces pieces cod filet at room temperature**
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, at room temperature**
1 ounce dry Spanish chorizo very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
Sweat the onion and bay leaves with the oil in a non-reactive high-side pan (“sauteuse”) over medium-low heat until the onion is softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Stir from time to time.
Add the cumin and the pimenton. Stir to coat the onion with the seasonings. Cook for about another minute. The seasonings will become very fragrant and the oil will be flavored.
Add the wine and let the liquid in the pan reduce until it resembles a light syrup consistency.
Add the shrimp broth, tomato puree, Ñora paste, and salt. Stir all of the ingredients together and adjust the heat to obtain a slow, steady simmer.
Place the cod filets in the pan. Spoon some of the sauce in the pan over each piece. Cover the pot with the lid ajar and gently simmer about 4 minutes. You may need to lower the heat.
Place the shrimp in the pan between the pieces of cod. Continue to simmer the seafood with the cover ajar until the shrimp turn from translucent to slightly opaque, about 3 minutes.
Turn the heat off and add the chorizo making sure the pieces are immersed in the sauce. Cover the pan and hold 2 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves and discard.
Transfer the fish and shrimp with a slotted spatula to serving plates or shallow bowls.
Spoon about 1/4 cup of the sauce with the chorizo over each piece.
Drizzle a little olive oil over each serving.
Finish with a generous pinch of chopped parsley on top.
* If you peel the shrimp yourself keep the shells to make a simple broth by simmering them for a half hour or so in about 2 cups of water with whatever aromatic vegetables you have in your refrigerator such as a piece of onion, carrot, celery, some parsley stems, a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, and even a crushed medium-sized white mushroom.
** By taking the seafood out of the refrigerator a half hour to forty-five minutes before cooking, you are doing what’s called, “tempering.” When the cod and shrimp go into the pan with less or no chill the result will be much more even cooking and a tender texture than if the seafood went directly from the refrigerator to the pan. This tip can be used for all of your fish, poultry, and meat cooking. Just remember, when there is less chill, cooking times will be reduced.
You can download or print a version of this recipe here.