Bacalhau com Natas
This recipe complete with pictures is courtesy of Sami a Portuguese lady living in Australia! She had to drive 30kms to buy the bacalhau to make this recipe. Sami has a great blog called sami’s colourfulworld please “click” across and say hi!
Bacalhau com Natas Ingredients
500gr potatoes 500gr cooked and flaked bacalhau (Please see *note below)
3 onions sliced
a few cloves of garlic
25ml olive oil
100ml grated cheese or bread crumbs
250ml fresh cream
White Sauce
25gr butter,
25ml flour,
250ml milk,
5ml mustard,
salt and pepper,
nutmeg
*Presoak bacalhau
Cut up the bacalhau codfish, rinse it under water to take out the excess salt. Soak the fish in very cold or icy water, skin side up. Change waters three times a day. The next day it can be soaked in milk if desired or again in cold water. The milk makes the fish softer.
Bacalhau (salted codfish)
What the soaking process does is remove the salt and hydrate the fish, thus making it grow to its original size. Once this process is done, you can either cook it or you can freeze it to be cooked another time. Of course, skin and bones must be removed to make this dish.
Alternatively, you can buy Riberalves. This is bacalhau where the salt has already been removed. It is readily available in the freezer section of most supermarkets in Portugal. If bacalhau (salted cod) is not available you can use whatever white fish is available and just omit the soaking process. I think that even using just normal fish fillets this dish would be good. Boil the codfish and when cool, flake into large pieces.
Bake in the oven for 20-25mins
Sprinkle remaining cheese over the mixture, or if you prefer you can use bread crumbs instead. Bake at 200ºC for about 20 minutes until bubbly and brown. Serve with a green salad.
Enjoy it!!
Related post: Bacalhau anyone?
Check out further Portuguese recipes at:http://pigletinportugal.wordpress.com/portuguese-recipes/
That looks delicious.
On my way over there now.
Hi Tilly, try it with anywhite fish. It is really delicious!
It looks scrumptuous! Just looking at the photo, I was going to ask if you had made that one, PiP, until I started reading.
I am going to, though! I’ve eaten it but not cooked it
Sounds absolutely decadent. Great recipe.
and fattening
Thanks for posting it Piglet, I will be cooking another batch in 2 weeks time for a celebration dinner for my son and husband (their birthdays are 1 day apart). xx
Thankyou for sharing it with us!
I have just learned a new word for scrabble…have never heard of of that fish.
Looks good,though.
Bacalhau is salted cod. Not sureif it would be considered a foreign word for scrabble!
OMG beautiful and yummy looking
Hope you are gonna try it!
Sounds a bit like Scalloped Potatoes or Potatoes au Gratin . . . with extra protein from the fish. Thanks, PiP!
Hi Nancy, yes it does. The fish gives the dish a new dimension and turns it from a vegetable into a meal!
that made my stomach growl…yum…
Ahhh that’s the noise my stomach makes when I’m hungry…never heard that expression but it is very apt!
Wow that looks mighty tasty. Thank your friend for letting you share it with us.
I’m going to go check out her blog right now. 
Thanks EC she is a relatively new blogger and would dearly love some encouragement
I’ve presented you with a blog award over at my blog. I hope you’ll come by and accept it. You deserve an award for the warmth and friendship you share with me.
Thank you EC, We’ve been buddies since the beginning and grown together!
I love smoked cod! I think I’ll have to try this recipe for the family – they love fish and I have a feeling this will work for them!
I do hope they enjoy it! Please report back if you do
I love codfish in all its forms; salted, freeze dried and on. Yes, Robin, it is very popular in Nigeria and your family should have a few recipes to share with you.
Nice recipe and post PIP!
Great idea EO perhaps Robin will share them on her blog
Actually, the only thing I get is a desire for yams (which we do not have) and the pepper and tomate sauce with meat on rice, which I will write about. If you have any receipes, E, feel free to shoot them my way – although I do know from another Nigerian woman here that even different tribes eat different foods! We did discover custard is a common food between our two cultures, so we can add that to the mix!
I hope your homemade custard is more successful than my lumpy offering LOL
Actually, I hate to tell you this – but we discovered that from looking at the picture of your custard!! Miss O 1 was not at all convinced it was custard, until I pointed out you were writing about the custard going wrong!
Yep, I don’t blame Miss O1 my “custard” did look pretty grim and tasted foul. I’ve taken some advice and am going to try again!
Even though I’m not a big fish eater, this looks yummy! I make have to try it.
Hi Shell, it is really nice!
Thanks for the recipe. I lived in Portugal way back in the 80′s and though it was about time I tried a few lovely Portuguese recipes on my partner.
As she is an excellent cook I was a bit worried, but she loved it.
Love the blog, brings back so many happy memories and I have featured it on my new blog.
Hi Steve and welcome
If you have a Portuguese recipe to share please email me and I will feature on my blog
PiP
Hi PiP
I get all of mine online , but at least I know what they should taste like.
I have found this video site great http://vimeo.com/6836144
Love of great videos.
I usually post any cooking I do on my other blog, Mr Tomato King.
http://mr-tomato-king.blogspot.com/ and the name came form Portugal as they called me O Rei de tomates as I grew tomatoes near Setubal for 3 years.
I will let you know when I experiment again, keep up the good work, I always need my Portuguese fix.
Steve
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oooh – it’s Christmas Eve – and I’ve downloaded the recipe and am off shopping to buy my Riberalves…. ready for hubby to make this tonight, in the spirit of a traditional Portuguese Christmas Eve meal… can’t wait!
Feliz Natal to you Piglet! and have a fantastic blog filled 2012 x
Hi Ferragudofan and welcome! Hope you enjoyed the meal!
hi – I’ve just found this web-site as well – not quite 1001 recipes but they seem quite easy to make? and google translates it nicely for me (phew!) http://www.bacalhauem20minutos.com.br/receitas/bacalhau/
I need to experiment more with bacalhau this year so thanks for the link!
oh oh oh – I can’t move!!! it was SO lovely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you didn’t post though that it would feed at least 4 people… ha ha – we couldn’t just leave it sat there looking yummy could we?????
and now I am fit to burst – and very contented! great recipe – worked a treat!
Thanks!
Glad you are stuffed and you’ve not arrived at the Turkey for tomorrow yet!
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Yum! Thank you for posting this. I lived in Portugal for 1 year a few years back and made every attempt to have this as often as possible! I am going to have to try my hand at it now! Thank you for the (delicious) memories!
A word of warning, well for those that might not be in Portugal.
I did this dish yet again, its all I cook when its my turn, lol.
But in France some salt cod is pre- soaked. Not knowing this I soaked it, but lost most of it’s saltiness.
I should have known as it was not the really dry salt cod, so looks like I have to cook it again next week on my day to cook.
Hi Steve and welcome!
We travel to France quite a lot. How do you tell if bacalhau is pre-soaked in France? what is it called.
Delicious! I’m so hungry now…love the food preparation down to the mouthwatering finish. Thanks…