Small adventures in cooking - roasted cod

Roasted cod with a warm Russian salad and aioli

This recipe was inspired by a Soviet cookery book called The Book of Healthy and Tasty Food. It's rather a decadent-looking tome, though the recipes are, for the most part, fairly straightforward. This dish uses an adaptation of a Russian vinaigrette.

Serves 6
500g beetroot
salt and pepper
6 x 150-200g skinless fillets of sustainably sourced cod
3 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped gherkins
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
a small handful of dill, finely chopped
a small handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of a lemon

For the aïoli
3 tbsp mayonnaise (home-made or decent bought mayo)
a clove of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Wash the beetroot and boil in a pan of salted water until easily pierced with a skewer. This could take anything from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the beetroot. When the beetroot is cooked, drain and set aside.

Place the cod in a roasting tray, season with salt and pepper, drizzle over a tablespoon of olive oil and roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until cooked (it should be firm to the prod and of a uniform whiteness).

Meanwhile, top and tail the beetroot and slide off the skin with your thumb - it should come away easily. Dice into small cubes and toss with the spring onion, gherkins, mustard, vinegar, dill, parsley and the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

For the aïoli, place the mayonnaise and garlic in a bowl and stir to combine. Arrange the roasted cod and warm salad on plates, squeeze over the lemon juice and serve with the aioli.

Recipe from Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden (£14.99, Quadrille).