I know that it can sometimes be pretty challenging to come up with delicious meatless meals that your family will enjoy in this Lenten season. So from fish and shellfish to savory pasta and vegetable dishes, you can look forward to some of the new recipes during the Lenten season.

You’ll want to be sure to print them before you shop at Nino’s, so you don’t forget any of the essential ingredients!

You may even like these recipes SO much you’ll be inspired to create some wonderful new recipes of your own that you can share with us!

This year, I’ll start with a recipe for one of my favorite types of fish: Cod. The recipe is Pan Seared Cod en Chemise, and it’s finished with a light sauce made with our Salvaggio’s Marinara and seafood broth.

Before you go to my recipes, you might enjoy watching one of them being made in my OWN kitchen!
Here it is!

Pan Seared Cod en Chemise

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs Cod Fillets, Trimmed to 5” x 2” pieces
2 LG Idaho Potatoes, 6” in length, minimum
Optional Fresh Herbs (Basil or Thyme)
¼ Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Salvaggio Marinara
¼ Cup Red Wine
½ Cup Seafood Broth
Few Threads Saffron
1 TBSP Butter
To Taste Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
2. Start by trimming your boneless, skinless fish fillets into pieces approximately 2” by 4” or 5”. If you have some odd-shaped pieces, you can piece them together. Season your portions and set them aside.
3. Carefully slice potatoes with a mandolin (or sharp knife) into very thin panels.
4. Rinse each panel to remove the excess starch, lay them out on paper towels, and pat them dry.
5. Assemble by laying out a piece of plastic film, and then arrange your thin slices of potato, overlapping each by a quarter inch, until you have created a potato “canvas” as long as your fillet and at least twice as wide.
6. Optionally, place a few small leaves of basil or tiny branches of thyme down the center of your potatoes.
7. Place fish, centered in the middle of the potatoes, and carefully fold the potatoes on each side over the top until they also overlap.
8. Pan-sear the potato-wrapped fillet in a non-stick fry pan with a small amount of vegetable oil on medium-high heat for about one to two minutes or until your potato is golden brown. Once browned on one side, turn over and place the entire pan, with the fish, into the 400 F oven, which will allow the underside to brown, and at the same time, finish cooking the fish. This will take only about 10 minutes.
9. For the sauce, simmer together the marinara, red wine, seafood broth, and a few threads of saffron. Once this simmers and reduces by half, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
10. Remove the fully cooked fish from the oven and serve with sauce.

This is a very elegant dish and one that you can serve with a number of different fish, including salmon, Chilean sea bass, halibut or orange roughy.
A link to two more delicious Lent-inspired recipes is above.