Peppers Stuffed With Cod On Roasted Tomatoes

My best friend went back to school to get her MBA and then went off for a semester abroad to Barcelona, Spain. I am quite jealous of all the wonderful food she gets to experience there, and her common photo postings on facebook only feed my jealousy more. But is is also quite inspirational. And although some ingredients, such as jamon (prohibited in US) and caught-this-morning-fresh seafood, are out of my reach, others I can get my hands on and can recreate a similar dish. Today I will use her photo as an inspiration and cook something similar - I have only a photo and a brief description (peppers stuffed with cod) to work of - no exact list of ingredients or a recipe here.

I see that there are relatively large red peppers with pieces of cod fillets inside, tomato based sauce, something creamy on the peppers along with cheese. I start with peppers, using sweet bell peppers, but a intentionally chose smaller ones. You won't have luck finding smaller ones in a regular super market as they have silly guidelines of the appearance for each fruit and vegetable and everything that doesn't meat the criteria, sadly doesn't get to the customers even if some of us don't mind imperfections. I had to buy these elsewhere.

After washing the peppers, I roast the whole peppers for some time under the broiler, regularly turning them to roast uniformly (roasting is done by radiant heat, so the side that doesn't face the bright red elements of the oven won't cook as desired, even rotation is essential, as per Modernist Cuisine).

When skins are blistered and even burnt in places, remove the peppers. Put in a plastic bag and seal  - peppers will release some steam inside the bag. This step is to help with peeling off the skins. When cool enough to handle, peel the skin and remove the seeds and pith inside. Set aside.

Finely dice the tomatoes.

Toss with some salt, freshly ground black pepper, rosemary and olive oil.

Arrange in an even layer in a baking dish and put in the oven for about 40 mins to an hour at 400F.

Remove when done.

Boil a couple of potatoes with skins on. I am adding potatoes because I want to take what appears to be more of an appetizer to a main dish, and potatoes will add that needed substance.

When fully cooked, let cool and peel.

Mash the potatoes.

Take a few code fillets, put onto a baking dish, salt and brush with oil.

Bake a few minutes until just done. Do not overcook, or the fish will be dry. Mash the fish.

Mix together the mashed potatoes, fish, add some salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff peppers with the mashed mixture and place on a baking dish lightly brushed with olive oil.

Add a dollop of sour cream on each pepper. Grate some cheese on top of that. I used Ementaller.

Place under the broiler for just a few minutes.

Serve on top of roasted tomatoes and with a slice of bread.

This came out pretty well. I didn't taste the original dish, of course, but both I and Shyam liked my creation. Next time I am making this, instead of 1:1 potatoes to fish ratio, I would add more fish, maybe 3:1 in favor of fish. And just a dash of some heat - maybe a bit of chile powder (I'm thinking specifically chipotle for that smokiness it has) would be nice too.

Wishing you many fun experiments in your kitchen, and stay tuned for my try to do a fancy seafood dinner tonight.