Cod has an unfair reputation as a sad fish. Served without a sauce or a decent side, it can indeed disappoint — but that’s a recipe problem, not a fish problem. Here, we give it what it needs: a golden crust, curry-scented pasta, and a lemon butter sauce that transforms the plate into something you’ll want to finish to the last bite.
Ingredients :
- Cod fillets — Cod is a firm-fleshed fish that holds up well in a hot pan — unlike pollock or whiting that flake easily. Choose fillets of even thickness (about 3 cm) for even cooking. If you can’t find any, cod loin is ideal: thicker, it stays tender in the center even if you sear it hard.
- Lustucru Curry Small Shells — The particularity of these pasta is that the curry is integrated into the dough itself — not sprinkled on top. During cooking, it releases a warm, slightly spicy aroma in the steam. If you can’t find this brand, cook regular small shells and add half a teaspoon of mild curry powder to the cooking water, or stir it into the drained pasta with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Salted butter — Salted butter is intentional here, not by default. It adds subtle saltiness to the sauce without needing heavy seasoning. The secret to a successful lemon butter sauce is that the butter is cold when you add it — you need a temperature difference for the sauce to emulsify and become creamy rather than breaking into a greasy pool.
- Lemon — Lemon juice is the acidic backbone of the sauce. Use freshly squeezed lemon — never bottled juice, which has a metallic taste particularly noticeable in such a simple sauce. If your lemon is not very juicy, microwave it for 10 seconds before squeezing: it releases the juice more easily.
