Spicy Cod and Merguez Traybake

This Spicy Cod and Merguez Traybake is a lovely combination of mild and spicy, flaky and chewy, a tasty way to enjoy both cod and merguez in one dish, not to mention fresh tomatoes and salty olives.

I like to joke that I was bilingual before I learned my second language because my first three years of school were in the British system. I learned to read and write the way they do. Year four - at an American school - was a relearning of spelling rules and punctuation. 

I spent the summer before that memorizing the whole times tables (through 12!) which apparently American kids had already learned as well. Worst summer ever for a nine-year-old! I was almost glad when school started and I could stop practising(Br.E.)/practicing(Am.E.) [In British English, "practise" is the verb and "practice" is the noun. In American English, "practice" is both the verb and the noun. And now you know my pain.] On the plus side, I still have the times tables cold. 

This recipe starts with a little vocabulary explanation of my title and an apology for those of you who already know. (I see you, my fellow American devotees of The Great British Bake-Off!) The way I’m using it here, the word traybake or sometimes tray bake as two words, is the British English equivalent of sheet pan dinner in the United States. That said, while a sheet pan dinner is always a main course, a traybake can also be something that is cut up and served as a sweet snack or dessert, like brownies or cake. 

In fact, if you browse the BBC Good Food website’s “traybake collection” there are only sweet recipes. You have to search for “savory traybakes” to get the links to our so-called sheet pan dinners. Even then, a few sweet recipes appear in the list. It’s all very confusing really.  

Now that I've gotten that off my chest and clarified absolutely nothing, on with the savory traybake! 

Spicy Cod and Merguez Traybake

The impetus for this recipe was our Fish Friday Foodies host Wendy choosing “seafood dishes that go with red wine” as our theme. This flavorful dish sure does! Do not worry too much about the exact weight of your merguez or your cod. I’ve given the exact weight of mine to give you a guideline. A little bit more or less won’t make much different to finished dish. This recipe is adapted from the British food magazine, Olive, where just to confuse matters further, they’ve called it a tray roast. Honestly. I can't even. 

Ingredients

10 1/4 oz or 290g small merguez (spicy lamb) sausages or large ones cut into chunks (Look for these at your local halal butcher. Yes, I bought mine here in the States.) 

1 large Spanish onion

3 tablespoons harissa, divided

3/4 cup or 110g red grape tomatoes

3/4 cup or 110g yellow grape tomatoes

1/2 cup or 85g dry cured black olives, unpitted

2 cod loins, 1.6 lbs or 710g total

olive oil

For garnish and serving:

flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges

Recommended to serve: my extra rich creamed potatoes (they are made with actual cream!) or your favorite crusty bread

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Peel and cut the onions into thin wedges, discarding the hard root end. Cut the little tomatoes in half and pit the olives by hitting them with the flat of a knife and removing the pits.  

Cut the cod loins into six equal pieces. 

Put 1 tablespoon of the harissa in a small bowl and mix it with 1 tablespoon olive oil to loosen. Brush the cod with the mixture on both sides and set aside. 

Put the merguez sausages in a large baking pan. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 10 minutes in the preheated oven until browned on the outside. I left mine hooked together and then cut them apart with scissors, once browned. 

The merguez will release some lovely flavored oil. Stir the onions in it and roast for another 7 minutes. 

Add the tomatoes and olives into the baking pan. Dollop the harissa around and give the whole thing a right good toss with two rubber spatulas.

Spread it all back out single file.  Nestle the cod amongst the tomatoes, olives and onions. Give each piece of cod another tiny drizzle of olive oil. 

Put the pan back in the oven for 17-20 minutes or until the cod reaches an internal temperature of 145°F or 63°C and is just cooked through. This will depend on the thickness of your cod. Mine was pretty thick and it took the whole 20 minutes. 

Scatter with parsley and lemon wedges.

I served mine as I suggested above on a generous mound of creamed potatoes. If you don't have potatoes, you definitely need some crusty bread to sop up the delicious pan juices. 

Enjoy, as per this month’s theme, with a glass of your favorite red wine! 

P.S. Don't let the fancy bottle in the photo fool you, if you tried to zoom in. We enjoyed this dish with a French table wine called La Vieille Ferme that is as inexpensive as it is lovely. I included that bottle in the photo because it is special to us. It is a 1986 vintage which is what we've enjoyed every year (since 1987) to celebrate our anniversary. We aren't partial to a country or vineyard, especially since they are getting much harder to source each year. We'll be opening another one on 22 March! 

It's time for my Fish Friday Foodies to share what they've been cooking up! Many thanks to our host and organizer Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for her behind-the-scenes work and this challenging theme. 

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla is serving up Crab-Stuffed Ravioli in a Spiced Pepper Sauce + 2017 Comanche Cellars Zinfandel
• A Day in the Life on the Farm is Exploring Malbec outside of France Paired with Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon 
• Making Miracles brings us Fish with Red Wine Sauce 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories shares Shrimp in Tomato and Chile Sauce
• Food Lust People Love has a Spicy Cod and Merguez Tray Bake
• Sneha's Recipe made Surf and Turf with Shrimp and Sausage Skewers

Are you a food blogger who would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas. 

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