Curried butter-baked cod with cauliflower & chickpeas
This traybake meal delivers big flavors, but it’s still easy to cook. How you serve it is up to you and the occasion – it’s just as good scooped straight from the dish in the middle of the table as it is smartly plated up.
Until the moment the fish goes into the pan, it is vegetarian, so if you’re cooking for veggies as well, scoop some of the cauliflower and chickpeas into a separate small pan to roast alongside the fish.
SERVES 4
PREP 30 mins
COOK 40 mins
EASY
One large cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Four garlic cloves large piece of ginger, peeled
One red chili, sliced
1 tbsp curry powder of your choice (we used madras)
2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
100g butter; softened 500-600g chunky white fish (such as cod, hake, or pollock), cut into four equal chunks 400g spinach handful of coriander, leaves picked, and roughly chopped large pinch of garam masala
1. Heat the oven to 220/200C/gas 7.
Toss the cauliflower in a large, shallow roasting tin with the cumin seeds, turmeric, seasoning, and half the oil until the cauliflower is coated and bright yellow.
Roast for 15 mins, tossing a few times, until starting to char.
2. Meanwhile, peel the garlic, then toss in a small food processor with the ginger, half the red chili, the curry powder, and some seasoning.
Blitz to a paste. Stir the chickpeas, half the spice paste, and most of the remaining oil through the cauliflower. Roast for 20 mins more, stirring once or twice.
3. While the cauliflower and chickpeas are roasting, mix the softened butter with the spice paste and spread half over the fish.
When the cauliflower and chickpeas are ready, remove the pan from the oven and make four gaps in the mixture. Nestle the fish in the gaps and dot all but 1 tbsp of the remaining spiced butter over the veg.
Roast for 10-15 mins more.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a large pan over high heat until very hot, then cook the spinach for 3-4 mins until wilted.
Add the reserved 1 tbsp spiced butter and cook for 1-2 mins more. Set aside until the fish is cooked, then sprinkle the coriander, garam masala, and remaining red chili over the traybake.
Serve the traybake in the middle of the table with the spinach in a bowl for everyone to help themselves.
GOOD TO KNOW
- calcium
- • folate
- • fiber
- • vitamin c
- • iron
- • 3 of 5-a-day
- • gluten-free
- PER SERVING
- 581 kcals
- • fat 32g
- • saturates 14g
- • carbs 27g
- • sugars 5g
- • fiber 11g
- • protein 41g
- • salt 0.8g
TIP
Patting chickpeas dry before roasting helps them crisp up and brown properly. You can do this with a couple of sheets of kitchen paper after you’ve drained and rinsed them.
