Bela Ria style codfish recipe

Bela Ria is a small restaurant in Ílhavo, in Gafanha de Aquém, specialising in codfish and its derivatives. This is the recipe for Bacalhau à Bela Ria, a very tasty and balanced dish that is very easy to make.

Bacalhau à Bela Ria is a dish that lives fundamentally from the simple and colourful tomato, pepper and onion based sauce, with a secret touch that Jorge Pinhão, the owner and cook of each reveals. “This is a dish that anyone can make at home and that is very tasty.”

So let’s get to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Soaked codfish fillet

1 onion cut in half-moons

1 clove of garlic, chopped

Red, green and yellow pepper strips

1 ripe tomato

Tomato pulp

Olive oil

Cubes of bacon

2 medium-sized sliced potatoes

Flour

1 beaten egg

juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Boil the potatoes and set aside.

Dredge the cod in flour and egg and fry lightly in hot oil. Set aside

In a pan, add a little olive oil and all the ingredients for the sauce (tomato, tomato pulp, onion and pepper strips), except the bacon. Cook over a low heat and after boiling for 5 minutes add the cubes of bacon.

Let it simmer until the onion is translucent and add the juice of 1/2 a lemon.

On a tray where the dish will be served, first place a piece of the sauce and then make a bed with the cooked potatoes. Place the cod on top and pour all the sauce over it.

Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for five minutes and serve.

Bela Ria style codfish is a very tasty and balanced dish, which goes well with a red wine from Bairrada, because we are in this region. The Bela Ria restaurant is small and where the important thing is the food. With an entrance through a small café, it has two dining rooms. The one where we ate the cod, but also the samosas and the línguas, is pleasant but popular. This is an experience we recommend. The Bela Ria is closed on Sundays.