ZUPPA DI BACCALA/SALTED COD SOUP

BACCALA SOUP/ZUPPA

As the weather turns cool outside, a pot of soup simmering on the stove warms the house and the stomach.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons/30 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil-EVOO

1 large onion-chopped

2 carrots-chopped

3 celery stalks-chopped

2 medium potatoes-diced

2 garlic cloves- finely diced

1/2 cup/125 ml fresh parsley -chopped

1 lb/454gm presoaked salted cod/baccala

4 plum tomatoes-crushed. Can use fresh, frozen or canned.

1/2 cup/125 ml raisins

3 cups/750ml chicken or fish stock

DIRECTIONS

Cover bottom of medium sized pot with olive oil.

Over medium heat add onions, garlic, celery and sautee 3-5 minutes until soft.

Add carrots and potatoes-stir.

Cook for  a further 5 minutes.

Add parsley and tomatoes and mix well.

Add the stock and bring to boil.

Simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

Add the cod/baccala and raisins.

Let simmer for a further 30 minutes.

It should be noted the raisins in the soup was my mother's touch. A little family secret for the baccala soup. People often asked why her cooking was so good. It was these little "touches " that made the difference.

With some crunchy Italian bread or your choice, it is a good meal all on its own. Baccala does mean cod. But it can also mean dummy! So if someone calls you a baccala, it is not a compliment.
#zuppadibaccala#granpalovestocook#usingraisinsinthesoupmama'ssecret#lotsofflavourinthesoup#agoodishforChristmasEvesevenfishesdishes

CHRISTMAS EVE SEAFOOD DISHES

The Christmas Eve dinner can consists of as many seafood and fish dishes you want. As stated in other posts, the magic number is to have is 7 for La Vigilia di Natale-the wait for midnight birth of the baby Jesus.

Fresh shrimp, calamari and scallops are my favourite. Cleaning and cutting the seafood, put on a slightly greased cookie sheet and bake in the oven until cooked. Like the picture, the shrimp should be pink when done.

My family love the many dishes. Shrimps and scallops ready for the oven- then ready for eating!

A nice platter of cooked scallops and shrimps with wedges of lemon make a tasty dish. Have tartar sauce and cocktail sauce and add to your plate if you like to use them.
 Barb likes tartar sauce with her breaded fish and calamari.

My little grandchildren love calamari rings-store bought. I added some breaded halibut fish to the platter for them.

From a seafood salad to a pasta dish

using clams, shrimps and scallops in a tomatoe sauce on freshly made fettucine, the seafood dinner is way under way.

You can have a baccala soup too.

Or simply roll fish pieces in flour and fry in oil and garlic.

Along with your platters of seafood add any vegetable dishes you want. Mine this year were red peppers and rapini salad. Fresh buns are added to the table Italian style! In Italian homes around the world and especially here in Canada, this meal is such a tradition on Christmas Eve. Buon Natale!

LA LA LA PESCE FRITA- BACCALA

Baccala  is the common dish for any Christmas Eve Seafood dinner. It is salted cod. The trick is to soak the cod in water for even as long as a day to reduce the amount of salt before cooking.
Dishes include simply frying some pieces in oil and garlic on the stove.

It can be rolled in a breaded  mixture or  flour and baked in the oven along with other fish/seafood dishes.

My mother used to make a baccala soup by putting some pieces in a tomato mixture.

I don't make the soup because no one else really eats it. My family like some baked cod or baccala from the oven.

This can be dish # 3 and # 4 depending on whether you make the soup.

Baccala is a good addition  to have for anyone who has a shellfish allergy and wants to partake in the Christmas Eve Seafood dinner.

Added note- don't over soak the fish in water to remove the salt. One year I did that and there was no taste left of the fish. It was very bland!

An old Italian rhyme- la la la, pesce frita, baccala!