Loretta Sebastiani

Loretta Sebastiani
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Boiled stockfish, Venetian-style
( Baccalà conzo )

Traditional recipe of Veneto and Friuli

Boiled stockfish, Venetian-style ("baccalà conzo" in Italian) is a typical recipe of Veneto and Friuli. Veneto and Friuli are in the north of Italy. Soaked stockfish is boiled in water, flavored with cloves, bay leaf and white wine. Then it is dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, parsley and salt. This is a simple-to-do recipe and it is served in Italy in a traditional Christmas Eve dinner menu based on fish. But you can prepare this recipe with boiled stockfish all year long. Mediterranean diet recipe.

difficulty: easy

time: 50 minutes

calories: 165 (kCal)

Boiled stockfish according to the Venetian tradition, the photo shows stockfish dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and parsley

Ingredients / Serves 4

  • 500g (1.1 pound) soaked stockfish
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 2 cloves
  • 150 ml (5 fluid ounces - 2/3 cup) dry white wine
  • Some sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
Difficulty:
easy recipe
Time:
preparation: 20 minutes
plus cooling time
cooking: about 30 minutes
total: 50 minutes
How many calories in a serving?
Calories: 165 (kcal) 9 % - 690 (kJ)
Protein: 22.1 (g) 45 % GDA
Total fat: 8.5 (g) 13 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 0.0 (g)
Sugars: 0.0 (g)

Download free PDF version (285 download).

Boiled stockfish recipe. Venetian version

Preparation and cooking

  • - Cook soaked stockfish.
    Run stockfish under cold water and put in a pot.
    Cover with cold water and add cloves, bay leaf and white wine.
    Bring to a boil, reduce heat and go on cooking for about 20 minutes.
    Let stockfish cool in its cooking water.
  • - Prepare stockfish dressing.
    Wash parsley, pat dry with absorbent kitchen paper and chop together with garlic clove.
    Put chopped parsley and garlic in a bowl.
    Add lemon juice and olive oil.
    Beat hard with a fork and put apart.
  • - The last step.
    Remove stockfish from its cooking water, pat dry with absorbent kitchen paper to remove any excess of water.
    Then remove its skin and bones, if necessary.
    Flake off its meat and transfer to a bowl.
    Dress it with the sauce.
    Taste to determine if the dish needs added salt. 

Just before serving

  • - Your stockfish dish is ready!
  • - You can serve it cold or warm.

Note

Tips

  • - Buy stockfish redy-to-cook (soaked) for a quicker and easier preparation.
  • - You can't prepare this dish ahead because stockfish gets dry.
  • - Generally I don't use garlic, especially in this case (it should be used raw!).
    I think its flavor is too intense and covers all other ingredients.
    In this recipe I substitute it with fresh or dried chives according to the season.
    Some people are used to flavor olive oil with a whole garlic clove for at least a day and then dress boiled stockfish with it.
  • - I modified the original recipe for another detail: the oil amount.
    In fact the traditional dose is 100ml (3 1/3 fluid ounces). It's too much according modern healthy eating rules.

Menu planning

  • - Serve this dish accompanied with polenta for an extraordinary one-plate meal or start a typical Italian menu with it together with other seafood or authentic Italian appetizers.

What's the right wine for " Boiled stockfish, Venetian-style "?

Soave Superiore (a white wine of Veneto in Italy) is perfect for this salt cod dish. If you serve it as starter you can match it with Prosecco.