Cod with salsify, thyme & butter

Winter

Salsify makes the perfect accompaniment to fresh cod and couldn’t be easier to prepare: I like to serve a salad of bitter leaves dressed with a squeeze of lemon – it cuts through the richness of the fish perfectly. Here, though, this unusual winter vegetable has decadence... buttery decadence. The low, slow cooking renders it unctuous and giving; while the garlic and thyme help to make it unbelievably tasty.

Serves 4

Ingredients

800g (1lb 12oz) salsify, peeled
150g (5½oz) butter, cut into 1cm (½in) cubes
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
zest of ½ lemon
1 small bunch of thyme sprigs
200ml (7fl oz) chicken or vegetable stock, or water
4 cod fillets (about 150g/5½oz each), skin on
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Place the salsify in a medium roasting tray, dot the butter all over the salsify, along with the sliced garlic, lemon zest and the thyme sprigs. Pour in the stock or water and season well with salt and pepper. Cover the tray tightly with foil, crimping the edges, to keep in the steam as the salsify cooks. Place the salsify in the oven for about 2 hours, shaking the tray once or twice during this time, until it is lovely and tender. Remove the tray from the oven and remove the foil.

Turn up the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Season the cod all over with salt and pepper and set it in and among the salsify, turning it through the melted butter in the tray as you do so. Return the tray to the oven and cook the fish and the salsify for 15 minutes, or until the cod is just cooked through.

Place some salsify and a piece of cod on each plate, then spoon over the hot, well-flavoured butter and serve straight away.

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