Cod with Spiced Tomato Sauce over Lemon-Garlic Zucchini Noodles
Wild cod with lemon and fresh herbs in a warmly spiced tomato and red pepper sauce of cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, and a hint of cinnamon, with optional fennel, eggplant, and greens, served over garlicky zucchini noodles.
Yield: Serves 2–3 · Active: 25 min · Total: 1 hour · Best in North America in summer, when tomatoes and zucchini peak (swap in spaghetti squash in cooler months) · Best eaten: early evening
Ingredients
Cod
1 lb wild Pacific cod
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ yellow onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp each fresh parsley, cilantro, and mint, chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Spiced red sauce
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or grass-fed butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 cup fish or chicken bone broth
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Optional vegetables
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant, cut into ½-inch cubes
2 big handfuls baby spinach or Swiss chard
Zucchini noodles
2 large zucchini, spiralized (or 1 zucchini and 1 yellow summer squash)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
To garnish: fresh cilantro, lemon wedges, and red pepper flakes
Method
Season the cod. Heat the oven to 350°F. Mix the garlic, onion, herbs, lemon zest and juice, cumin, salt, and pepper, and spread it over the cod on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake 15–20 minutes, until it's opaque and flakes easily.
Start the sauce. While the cod bakes, heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Sauté the garlic 1 minute, then add the bell pepper (and the fennel and eggplant, if using), and cook 6–8 minutes, until softened.
Add the tomatoes and spices. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook 5 minutes on low, until they start to break down. Stir in the cumin, paprika, turmeric, coriander, and cinnamon for 2–3 minutes, until fragrant.
Simmer. Pour in the broth, bring it to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer 20–30 minutes, until rich and thickened. Stir in the spinach or chard (if using) for the last 2 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.
Add the cod. Break the baked cod into large flakes and fold them gently into the sauce.
Make the zucchini noodles. Toss the spiralized zucchini with a pinch of salt and let it sit in a colander 10–15 minutes, then squeeze it gently in a towel, so the dish doesn't turn watery. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat, sauté the garlic 1 minute, then add the noodles and toss 1–2 minutes, just until warmed through, with a little bite left. Toss with the cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Serve. Divide the noodles among plates, and top with the cod and sauce. Garnish with cilantro, lemon wedges, and red pepper flakes.
Easier one-pan method: Skip baking. Make the sauce first, then nestle the seasoned raw cod into the simmering sauce. Cover and cook 8–10 minutes, until it just flakes. This is very close to a classic North African spiced fish in tomato sauce.
Ways to Make It Even Better
Char the bell pepper. Blacken it directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, then peel, for a smoky depth sautéed pepper can't match.
Add preserved lemon. Stir 2 tbsp finely chopped preserved lemon into the sauce, the signature flavor of Moroccan fish dishes. Make your own with the method in my Moroccan Lamb Shank Tagine.
Use Pimentón de la Vera, oak-smoked paprika from Spain, for deeper smoky flavor.
Add saffron. Crumble a pinch into 2 tbsp warm broth, steep 10 minutes, and add it with the broth.
Add olives and capers: ¼ cup pitted Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives and 2 tbsp rinsed salt-packed capers, stirred into the sauce.
Scatter toasted pine nuts and currants over the plate, 2 tbsp each, a classic Sicilian sweet-and-savory pairing.
Pan-sear the cod instead of baking it. Sear it in ghee for 3 minutes per side, for crisp golden edges and a tender center.
Char a lemon. Halve a lemon and char it cut-side down in a dry pan for 2 minutes, then squeeze the smoky juice over the plates.
More Vegetables to Try
Artichoke hearts (packed in olive oil), stirred into the sauce
Green beans, blanched and tossed with the noodles
Roasted cauliflower, on the side or folded into the sauce in cooler months
Spaghetti squash in place of the zucchini noodles, in fall and winter: halve it, roast cut-side down at 400°F for 35–45 minutes, then scrape it into strands
Storage
The sauce (without the cod) keeps refrigerated up to 4 days, or frozen up to 3 months. Cooked cod in sauce keeps up to 2 days; reheat it gently, so the fish doesn't toughen. Zucchini noodles are best cooked fresh.
Nourishment Notes
Wild cod — lean complete protein, selenium, B12, iodine, and phosphorus.
Tomatoes and red pepper — lycopene (made more absorbable by cooking in olive oil), vitamin C, and beta-carotene.
Cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, and cinnamon — warming spices traditionally used to support digestion, plus curcumin from the turmeric, which the black pepper helps your body absorb.
Fennel and eggplant — anethole and potassium from the fennel, and nasunin from the eggplant's skin.
Spinach and chard — folate, magnesium, and vitamin K.
Zucchini — vitamin C, potassium, and lutein.
Garlic and onion — allicin, quercetin, and prebiotic fibers.
Fresh herbs — vitamin K and aromatic compounds traditionally used to support digestion.
Bone broth — glycine, gelatin, and minerals.
Extra virgin olive oil — oleic acid and polyphenols.
For your cycle: This light, bright dish is lovely in every phase. The cod's selenium and iodine support thyroid health, the greens bring magnesium and folate, and fennel is traditionally used to ease luteal-phase bloating.
Sourcing
Cod — wild Alaskan Pacific cod (a Seafood Watch Best Choice), from a trusted fishmonger, Vital Choice, or Sea to Table
Cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, zucchini, fennel, eggplant, greens, garlic, onion, herbs, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market in season (or organic tomato passata in glass, like Bionaturae, out of season)
Bone broth — homemade from fish bones (cod or other white fish) or pasture-raised chicken (see my Broths 101)
Spices (cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, coriander, Ceylon cinnamon, saffron) — organic and non-irradiated (Pimentón de la Vera DOP, like La Chinata, for the smoked paprika)
Preserved lemon (optional) — homemade, ideally from organic Meyer lemons
Olives and capers (optional) — naturally cured olives; salt-packed Sicilian capers from Pantelleria or Salina
Pine nuts and currants (optional) — organic pine nuts, kept in the fridge; organic, unsulfured currants
Grass-fed butter or ghee — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows, or grass-fed ghee
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass (Gustiamo and Olio2Go both carry excellent single-estate oils)
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt; Maldon for finishing
— Anna aka Food Marshall