The name Codfish Espiritual literally means “spiritual codfish”. This dish goes back to 1947 when a luxury restaurant opened in the old kitchen of the Queluz palace near Lisbon. The story goes they needed something extra special to serve and one of the consultants, countess Almeida Araújo, went to France to find an exquisit codfish dish “Brandade Chaude de Morue”. She bought the recipe and adapted it to Portuguese tastes, named it Bacalhau Espiritual, and the rest is history. Enjoy the creamy texture of this delicious codfish dish.
4 persons
60 minutes
Fairly easy
Ingredientes
600 g codfish loins ,Terra do Bacalhau
2 bread rolls, soaked in milk and shredded
100 g onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
300 g carrots, grated
50 g cheese, grated
5 dl milk
40 g flour
40 g butter
3 eggs
Nutmeg, to taste
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Olive oil
How to:
- Soak the bacalhau according to instructions. Simmer until slightly cooked. Remove the skin of the codfish, flake it and reserve.
- Heat the oven to 200°C.
- Bechamel sauce: Add the butter to a pan, add the flour and stir well. Add the milk. Let it cook over low heat, occationally stirring until the sauce has thickened. Separate the egg yolks and reserve the egg whites. Whisk the yolks lightly and whisk them into the sauce. Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt.
- To another pan, add some olive oil and let the onion and grated carrots sweat on low heat until slightly golden. Add the codfish flakes and the soaked bread rolls. Mix well and add half of the sauce previously made.Whip the egg whites unti they are stiff, and add them to the other half of the sauce.
- Grease a tray with butter and add the codfish sauce. Layer the rest of the sauce with the whipped egg whites on top. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and place in the oven for 20 minutes to gratinate.
