Roasted Cod with Fennel & Lemon
This Roasted Cod with Fennel & Lemon is an easy one-pan dinner that can feed a crowd with minimal effort. This recipe actually came together rather randomly one night when I didn’t have much of a plan for dinner. I tend to always have an idea of what I am going to make or do a little meal preparation in advance so I’m not scrambling at the minute. However, sometimes the best ideas come from having no plan at all and this was definitely one of them.
I never used to eat much fennel, mostly because I didn’t know what to do with it. It looks rather odd, and it wasn’t a common ingredient in my household as a child. A couple of years ago I made a little challenge with myself; I decided to start buying all of the unfamiliar vegetables in the grocery store and try to cook with them in my kitchen. I’m pretty sure that this idea was inspired by Jamie Oliver; I used to watch his cooking shows religiously when we lived in England! Not only is he adorable and hilarious, but he has a passion for real food, ingredients and using everything nature gave us. And I love that.
This dish is simple and fresh, but the flavours really work. Raw fennel has a licorice-like taste, but roasted it has a milder sweeter flavour and pair well in savoury dishes. I used cod in this dish, but you could use any white fish you like, I think halibut or haddock would pair very well. Plus, you don’t need many skills in the kitchen to make this dish, just a sharp knife and an oven, and you will be well on your way to flavour country.
Roasted Cod with Fennel & Lemon
If you don’t have cod, any white fish such as halibut, haddock or tilapia would work well too.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Mains
- Cuisine: Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
Ingredients
- 2 cod fillets
- 1 bulb fennel
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 400°F.
- Prepare the fennel. Using a sharp knife, trim the base of the bulb and remove the fronds (stems), these will be used for later. Cut the bulb of fennel in half, enabling to lay flat on the cutting board to slice.Thinly slice or shave the bulb into 1/4 slices.
- In an oven proof skillet, lay the fennel slices in the bottom of the skillet. Add the cherry tomatoes (you can leave them whole or slice them), and drizzle everything with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer skillet to the oven and roast for 20 minutes. While the fennel and tomatoes are cooking, season with cod fillets with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- After 20 minutes, remove from the oven and top the fennel and tomatoes with cod fillets laying them flat on top of the fennel. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.
- Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice of half of the lemon over the fish and vegetables. Thinly slices the other half into rounds and add on top of the fish. Grab a small handful of fennel leaves from the stems and add to skillet.
- Transfer to the oven for another 10-12 minutes, until the cod flakes easily with a fork.
- Remove from the oven, and garnish with extra fennel leaves or lemon juice as desired.
- Serve on its own or with a large side salad.
- Enjoy!
