This salsa pairs really well with all sorts of other things – roasted vegetables, grilled chicken or baked cubes of tofu, to name just a few – so double the amount if you like. It will keep in the fridge for two days.
Ingredients
- 2 red romano peppers stalks and seeds discarded, roughly chopped
- 2 tomatoes quartered and deseeded
- 1 red chilli cut in half lengthways and deseeded
- 0.5 tsp chipotle chilli flakes or smoked paprika
- 3 cloves garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 4 limes zest finely grated and juiced, to get 3 tbsp of each
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 100 grams pumpkin seeds
- 600 grams skinless and boneless cod cut into four equal pieces
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 280 grams short-grain white rice
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 5 grams coriander leaves finely shredded
Instructions
- Put the peppers, tomatoes, red chilli and chilli flakes in a food processor with one garlic clove, half the lime zest, a tablespoon of lime juice, half the ground coriander and cumin, and a teaspoon of salt. Blitz, then add the pumpkin seeds and blitz again to a coarse salsa.
- Put the cod in a large bowl and season with a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Pour over half the salsa, and toss with your hands to coat the fish. Put the rest of the salsa in a bowl, to serve. Leave the cod to marinate while you cook the rice.
- Heat the oven to 230c. On a high flame, heat two tablespoons of oil in a large, high-sided ovenproof saute pan for which you have a lid. Add the remaining two garlic cloves, the remaining ground coriander and cumin, the onion and a half-teaspoon of salt, and fry for six to eight minutes, stirring now and then, until dark golden brown. Stir in the rice, stock, 80ml water, the remaining two teaspoons of lime zest and a tablespoon of lime juice. Cover the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the rice is cooked. Don’t worry if it goes crisp at the bottom – this just adds to the texture and flavour.
- About halfway through cooking the rice, coat the cod pieces with the remaining two tablespoons of oil and arrange on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 10 minutes, until cooked through and beginning to crisp, then arrange the cod (and any juices on the tray) on top of the rice. Drizzle with the remaining lime juice, scatter over the coriander and serve with the remaining salsa on the side.
