Tomato, fennel & saffron butter beans with cod

“Catch of the day” was on every menu in Cornwall.

So nonchalant! A little secretive. With a quiet assumption that if it was caught that day, it will be good. You will trust it. No questions asked.

Over the week we worked our way through a fair selection; whole lemon sole with green peppercorn tarragon butter; cod with Sri Lankan black curry; whole sea bream with caper, lemony butter-soaked-samphire!

You’d think after a week heavy on the seafood, I’d be a bit fish’d out. But when it comes to seafood, it’s pretty much always the opposite (my flatmate bought me a sardine-shaped bookmark for my birthday, which I think speaks for itself). If anything, eating out that way reminded me what proper, fresh produce tastes like. Caught that morning, on your plate by lunch. A proper luxury.

It got me wanting to cook it myself at home. Not quite the daily catch, but in the quietly confident way I know how - with beans, obviously.

I took it a little Mediterranean in its flavours with a base of fennel-sweet, lightly tomatoey braised butter beans - not quite a stew, not quite a broth - but with the bean stock* giving it that glossy, almost silky thickness. *That lusciously thick, perfectly seasoned, brothy liquid you get in jarred beans (more on that later). The fish then gets nestled straight into the pan to gently steam over the beans, so it stays soft and flaky. Topped off with a fresh lemony, parsley oil for a bit of brightness to cut through it. Perfect mopped up with crusty bread.

Seafood aside, I did also have the best carrot and walnut cake of my life. It was from a bakery in St Ives called The Makers. Very moist, with just the right amount of butter cream. It was the size of my head.

Anyway, back to the fish and the beans. Nonchalant, as promised.

Get the good beans. Please! Jarred beans are creamier, tender, so much more flavourful and come with a rich, glossy, perfectly seasoned bean stock that helps form the “sauce”. Bold Bean Co of course are the best. They’re well worth the extra pennies, especially in a dish this simple where the beans do most of the talking. Saffron sounds a little fancy, but just a small pinch adds a subtle warmth and turns the glossy bean broth a glorious golden colour. The cod can be swapped for any chunky white fish, such as monkfish or hake, or left out altogether - the beans hold their own. Either way, a good hunk of crusty bread for mopping up the tomatoey, saffron-scented sauce is a must.

Feeds 2 | Takes 30 mins

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

Pinch of saffron

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced

250g vine cherry tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 x 570g jar Queen Butter Beans - with their bean stock

2 cod fillets (or any chunky white fish like monkfish or hake)

Crusty bread, to serve

To top

2 tbsp olive oil

A small bunch of fresh parsley (about 10g), very finely chopped

The zest of 1 lemon and half its juice

Optional extra - if you’ve got some courgettes, they work nicely too! I would slice or roughly dice them, then add them at the same time as fennel.

Method

1. Soak the saffron in 100ml freshly boiled water and set aside.

2. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over a medium-low heat. Add the fennel seeds and cook for 30-60 seconds until fragrant and just starting to sizzle. Add the fennel with a pinch of salt and cook for an initial 4-5 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes until soft, a little jammy, and releasing their juices. Gently squash a few of the tomatoes with the back of a fork or wooden spatula to release more of their juices.

3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.

4. Add the butter beans with their liquid along with the saffron and its soaking liquid and stir to combine. Jarred beans are already well seasoned, but taste and adjust if needed. Simmer for about 7-8 minutes until the liquid has slightly reduced and turned glossy and lightly thickened. The sauce should look silky and lightly emulsified, clinging to the beans and spoon.

5. Season each cod fillet with a pinch of salt and cracked black pepper. Nestle both fillets into the pan and cover with a lid. Cook over a medium heat for 7-8 minutes until the cod flakes easily with a fork and is opaque all the way through. If your fish is a little chunkier, they might need a couple minutes more.

6. While the fish is cooking, make the lemon parsley oil. Add the oil, parsley, lemon juice and zest to a small mixing bowl and mix well to combine.

7. Once the cod is cooked through, I like to flake the fish into chunky pieces in the pan, but you can keep the fillets whole or simply flake them after serving. Divide into bowls and drizzle with the lemon and parsley oil. Serve with warm, crusty bread for mopping up the sauce (if toasted, it’s great rubbed with a little garlic!).