Choose similar fish thickness
Equally thick pieces cook more evenly. Check actual doneness by temperature.
European Recipe
Cod with roast pumpkin and polenta
Pumpkin starts in the oven and fish joins later. Polenta is cooked until creamy just before serving.
Total time
45 min
Calories
502 kcal
Servings
2 servings
Difficulty
Easy
Why this recipe works
Tray-baked fish and pumpkin with polenta
Small pumpkin wedges cook first so the fish need not stay in the oven too long. Make polenta last. The recipe gives two main meals with the entire side included.
Dinner
Autumn Recipes
Fish
Vegetables
Recipe
Cod with roast pumpkin and polenta
Opaque cooked cod and tender Hokkaido wedges with creamy butter polenta, lemon and parsley.
Ingredients
2 servings
Method
-
1
Start roasting pumpkin
Preheat oven to 200 °C conventional top and bottom heat. Wash and deseed pumpkin, cut into wedges about 2 cm wide. Mix with 10 g oil, 1 g salt and half the pepper. Spread on a large paper-lined tray and bake on the middle shelf for about 15 minutes.
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2
Add the fish
Turn pumpkin. Check fish for bones, divide into two similarly thick pieces and place beside pumpkin on a free part of the tray. Brush with remaining 5 g oil, 1 g salt and remaining half of the pepper. Bake together for another 12 to 15 minutes until pumpkin is tender and fish fully cooked.
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3
Cook the polenta
Near the end of oven time, boil water with the remaining 1 g salt. Sprinkle in corn grits while stirring and gently cook until creamy for about 5 minutes following the packet. Stir often. Adjust water and cooking time if needed. Stir in all the butter.
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4
Check and serve
Reach at least 70 °C for 2 minutes at the centre of the thickest part of the fish; check with a thermometer and cook longer if needed. Fish should be fully opaque and pumpkin easily pierced with a knife. Add lemon juice and chopped parsley to both. Serve on two plates with all the polenta.
Kitchen know-how
Tips for Cod with roast pumpkin and polenta
Make polenta last
It thickens as it stands. Serve with the cooked oven ingredients directly after stirring in the butter.
Variations
How to adapt this recipe
Replace cod with the same edible raw weight of Alaska pollock. Still check core temperature; cooking time and nutrition may differ.
Replace the butter in the polenta with the same weight in grams of olive oil. Flavour and nutrition change.
Nutrition per serving
502kcal
51.3 gCarbohydrates
35.8 gProtein
15.1 gFat
Values are estimates per serving and may vary depending on the ingredients, brands, portion size and preparation method used.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ about Cod with roast pumpkin and polenta
The washed edible skin stays on the pumpkin in the basic version. Remove seeds, hard and damaged areas before weighing.
No. Pumpkin gets a head start. Add fish after turning the wedges, then cook it fully.
No. Corn grits cook in water and are stirred creamy with the stated butter. No cheese or cream is included.
The basic version uses fine grits with a short packet cooking time. Coarser types often take longer; adjust water, method and total time accordingly.
Keep cooking