Nice chunky cod fillets like these can be pricey and so I wanted to ensure I could create an amazing accompaniment to go with it. I happened to have some leftover rice and thought tomato and chorizo rice would be a great pairing.  When you add in parsley, olives and lemon as well, the rice starts to become the star of the show, it’s just yum. Sometimes I just make this rice as an alternative to normal fried rice and it’s also nice topped with a fried egg.  

Serves 2

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly diced

• 60g chorizo, outer skin peeled and diced in to about 1cm cubes

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• 200g cherry tomatoes (I used mixed cherry tomatoes but you could use any type), chopped in half

• 250g cooked rice

• A small handful of parsley, chopped

• About 6 green olives, pitted and sliced

• 2 cod fillets

• 1 lemon

• Olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep frying pan and fry the onion for a minute on a medium heat, then add the diced chorizo and fry for another few minutes until the lovely pungent oils are released.

3. Add the garlic and tomato puree and fry for another couple of minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes and fry for another couple of minutes until they start to soften.

4. Add the rice to the pan and break up any lumps, stir so all the rice gets coated in the oils, it might be helpful to add a couple of tablespoons of water to loosen things up a bit.

5. Stir in half the chopped parsley.

6. Add the rice to a roasting pan then place the cod fillets on top. Season with salt and pepper then top with some lemon slices.

7. Squeeze the lemon juice on to the rest of the rice and then bake in the oven for 14 minutes by which time the cod should be cooked. It should be quite easy to flake it if it’s cooked.

8. Scatter the olives through along with the rest of the parsley, and then taste the rice to see if it needs a crack of salt and pepper and perhaps a little more lemon.   

9. If you fancy some more veg, why not add some broccoli or a green salad on the side. Otherwise plate up and enjoy!