Cod pasta with pesto, peas and crispy bacon, a quick and quite easy recipe that tastes like you spent far longer making dinner than you did!
When I say quick, this recipe is done and dusted in the amount of time it takes to boil some pasta, making it a perfect midweek meal.
Fish Pasta with Pesto
When it comes to quick dinner recipes, pasta often, and quite rightly, rules the roost!
Fish or seafood and pasta cook equally quickly, and I combine the two a lot.
I have everything from prawn and squid ink pasta and canned salmon pasta with creme fraiche to smoked mackerel pasta and classic spaghetti alle vongole.
This delicious and stupidly simple cod pasta recipe joins those recipes.
It adds pasta's best buddy, basil pesto, into the mix as well as some sweet garden peas.
Finally, some crispy, salty bacon takes the dish up another level!
Cooking this is really easy. Whilst the pasta water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, you have plenty of time to cook the bacon and the fish.
Then it is a case of chucking it all together, and you are done.
You can even make a fresh pesto and have this dinner on your table in under 30 minutes! I have a video for making pesto in my tuna pesto pasta and prawn pesto pasta recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use skinless cod?
Yes, I do not serve the cod skin in this recipe. I use skinless cod because it protects the cod when pan-frying and also helps it hold together a bit better.
What pasta should I use?
This recipe is best made with broad long pasta.
I use fresine, but anything from tagliatelle, pappardelle or fettuccini would all work equally well.
Can I use fresh pasta?
Yes, but the timings for this recipe are for dried pasta! If you are using fresh pasta, cook the bacon and fish first, and only begin to cook the pasta once you have flipped the fish.
Is fresh pesto better?
It really does depend on your definition of better!
I usually make fresh pesto, but I love being in the kitchen and have no problem with going the extra mile. If you want convenience, use store-bought.
What is streaky bacon?
A question often asked by my US-based readers. Streaky bacon is what you guys know as bacon. Here in the UK, the name bacon tends to refer to back bacon or Canadian bacon, as you guys know it.
Can I make this in advance?
Whilst this dish may be safe to store in the fridge for a couple of days, it really is not best suited for doing so.
Serving Suggestions
This wonderful cod pasta with pasta is the perfect one-bowl dinner, and I rarely serve it with anything other than a hunk of bread.
My wife usually insists on some garlic bread, to be fair... I've seen her order that in place of a dessert at a restaurant!
I'd be much more likely to opt for a hunk of ciabatta or focaccia that I have heated in the oven.
Equipment Used
I only recommend specific brands of equipment if I think that it makes a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Hob/stovetop.
- 28cm or 11" nonstick frying pan.
- Saucepan for boiling pasta, I usually use a 24cm or 10" saucepan/
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring cups and spoons.
- Colander or sieve.
- Fish slice or spatula.
- Mini blender or mortar and pestle if you are making fresh pesto.
- Kitchen paper.
Cod Pasta with Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 175 g Dried Pasta 6oz
- Salt for Boiling Pasta
- 6 Rashers of Smoked Streaky Bacon 125-150g
- 250 g Cod Fillet or Loin 9oz
- 75 g Peas ½ Cup
- 125 g Pesto ½ Cup
Fresh Basil Pesto Ingredients:
- 15 g Pine Nuts 2 tablespoon
- 25 g Basil Leaves 1 Cup
- 15 g Parmesan Cheese 3 tablespoon
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 50 ml Olive Oil 3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Bring a 20cm or 8" pan of generously salted water to the boil; use 1½-2 teaspoons of water for a pan this size. Then cook the pasta as per the cooking instructions, less 30 seconds or so.
- If you are using frozen peas, defrost them by running them under cold water for 3-4 minutes.
- Whilst the pasta water comes to a boil, heat a 28cm or 11" non-stick skillet or frying pan over a medium-high heat, and when it is hot, cook the bacon until crispy. This will take 2-3 minutes on each side. When the bacon is cooked, transfer it to some kitchen paper to absorb excess fat.
- Fry the cod in the bacon fat, cook skin side down for 3 minutes and then for 1-2 minutes on the flesh side, then remove from the pan.
- The pasta should now be very close to cooked when you think it is ready; throw the peas in for 30 seconds. Then scoop out 75-100ml (⅓ Cup) of the cooking water and set it aside before draining the pasta.
- Tip the drained pasta into the pan that you cooked the bacon and fish in, then toss to coat in the cooking oils.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir through the pesto, adding just enough of the cooking water to create a creamy coating.
- Remove the skin from the fish, then flake it into the pasta.
- Crumble the bacon and add it to the pasta, setting a little aside to sprinkle over at the end.
- Carefully stir to combine taking care not to break up the fish too much.
- Serve sprinkled with the remaining bacon.
How to make Homemade Basil Pesto:
- If you are making your own pesto, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan before cooking the bacon.
- Transfer to a mini blender or pestle and mortar and add the remaining ingredients, and blitz until an appropriate texture is achieved.
Crookys
Sunday 29th of October 2023
What to use instead of bacon?
Brian Jones
Monday 30th of October 2023
Hi, it depends on why you want to omit the bacon, if it is a "pork" thing then you cold get away with using lamb, beef or even turkey bacon... if it is a meat thing then you could use a vegan bacon substitute. However I would personally omit the bacon and rebalance the seasoning with some extra salt in the dish.
Clara
Wednesday 6th of September 2023
I just made this with my homemade pesto with an enormous bunch od basil today. Had a craving for cod and then found this recipe. Being Hungarian the site name Krumpli immediately resonated with me. It was very good!