I’ve recently just returned from Brazil where we went up into the hills of the Mata Atlântica – the thick coastal jungle – and had lunch in a relaxed, informal, open-air sort of a place called the Villa Verde (follow this link to a restaurant guide to the area where that restaurant features).

I had tagliatelle with white fish in a creamy coconut sauce and, rather unexpectedly, some black olives. I haven’t really tampered much with the concept for this recipe except that I’ve used cod, which they don’t have over there, and some bacon for a bit of extra depth.

This dish is good with beer, and even better in my view, with a chilled dry cider, I like Green Goblin.

Recipe for tagliatelle topped with cod in coconut cream with bacon and olives

Serves 2

Ingredients

• A couple of pieces of cod – 200g/7-8 oz total weight
• 120 ml/½ cup coconut cream
• About eight black olives – pitted. Crespo are good. If in brine, go to this post to find out how to make them palatable.
• Smoked salt and Indonesian long pepper
• 250g/9 oz fresh tagliatelle (or dry)
• 2 pieces of bacon
• 2 spring onions – peeled and finely sliced including about an inch (2 cm) of the green stem
• Olive oil for frying

Method

1. Warm your plates.
2. Add a little oil to a frying pan and fry the bacon, and the cod for a couple of minutes on each side (if cooking from frozen, follow the instructions on the packet). Turn the bacon and the cod.
3. In a small saucepan whose bottom is just big enough the lay the cod pieces slowly warm the coconut cream, season with a little smoked salt and Indonesian long pepper.
4. Back in the frying pan, the bacon will be ready first – take it out, chop together with the black olives, and keep warm.
5. add the fish carefully to the coconut cream and poach gently for five or ten minutes – make sure it’s cooked through.
6. Meanwhile cook the pasta, again according to the packet instructions. Drain.
7. put the pasta back in the empty pan it’s been cooked in. Pour in some of the bacon and olives, and as much of the coconut cream as you can without breaking the fish pieces.
8. Serve the be-sauced pasta on warmed plates, topped with the fish and the rest of the sauce and garnished with the spring onion, rest of the chopped bacon and olives.

Music to cook to

Black and White, by Three Dog Night…takes me back…