Bacalhau com Natas

Ingredients

• 600 g salt cod, desalted for 24 hours in several changes of water
• 800 g potato, peeled and cut into short batons
• 3 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic, finely chopped
• 6 dl milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 60 g butter
• 50 g wheat flour
• 2 dl heavy cream
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 100 g Gouda, coarsely grated
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Method

1. 1.

   Poach the cod in milk — Put the desalted cod in a saucepan with the milk and the bay leaf, bring it barely to a tremble and poach for 8-10 minutes. Lift the fish out, strain the milk and keep it, then flake the cod into large pieces, discarding skin and bones.

2. 2.

   Fry the potato batons — Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan and fry the potato batons in two batches over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes each, until golden outside and just tender inside but not crisp. Drain them on kitchen paper.

3. 3.

   Sweat the onions with the cod — Pour off all but 2 tbsp of the oil, turn the heat low and cook the onions and garlic for 12-13 minutes until completely translucent and sweet, without browning. Fold in the flaked cod and warm it through for a minute.

4. 4.

   Make the cream sauce — Melt the butter in a saucepan, whisk in the flour and cook it for 2 minutes without colouring. Add the reserved warm milk a ladle at a time, whisking smooth between additions, then the cream and the nutmeg. Simmer 5 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon, and season.

5. 5.

   Layer the baking dish — Fold two thirds of the sauce through the cod, onion and fried potato, taste for salt, and spread the mixture in a buttered 30 x 20 cm baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the top and scatter with the grated Gouda.

6. 6.

   Bake until golden — Bake at 200 °C for 25-28 minutes, until the surface blisters, the edges bubble and the cheese is patchily golden. Let it rest 5 minutes before serving so the sauce sets enough to hold a spoonful.