Recipe Overview
This elegant appetizer transforms salted cod into a smooth, airy mousse with chickpeas, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. Served on soft blanched red onion petals and finished with caviar, it becomes a luxurious seafood bite with deep Italian roots.
Why This Page Matters
Baccalà is a classic Italian ingredient with strong regional identity. This version keeps the traditional flavor but presents it in a modern fine-dining style for tasting menus, wine dinners, and elegant appetizer service.
Connected Experience
The recipe includes serving scaling, live inventory data, Menu Builder metadata, nutrition values, wine pairing, and search metadata for future recipe matching.
Ingredients
- 450 g salted cod, desalted
- 57 g boiled garlic cloves
- 215 g extra virgin olive oil
- 227 g dried chickpeas, cooked until tender
- 1000 g water for poaching and blending
- 15 g caviar
- 60 g red onion petals, blanched
- 2 g sea salt and white pepper
Preparation
- Desalt the salted cod for 2 to 3 days in cold water, changing the water twice daily and keeping the cod refrigerated.
- Soak the chickpeas overnight, then cook them in unsalted water until tender. Reserve some of the cooking liquid.
- Simmer the desalted cod gently for about 15 minutes. Cool it in its liquid, then flake the fish and remove any skin or bones.
- Blend the cod, chickpeas, boiled garlic, and a little reserved liquid until smooth.
- With the blender running, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil until the mixture becomes light, smooth, and mousse-like.
- Season carefully with sea salt and white pepper, remembering that cod and caviar both bring natural salinity.
- Blanch red onion petals briefly to soften them, then cool and dry them gently.
- Form quenelles or small spoonfuls of mousse onto the onion petals.
- Finish each portion with a small amount of caviar and serve chilled or slightly cool.
Chef Service Note
For a professional tasting menu, keep the mousse very smooth and pipeable. Plate the onion petal first, add a clean quenelle or rosette of baccalà mousse, then finish with caviar at the last moment.
Dietary Notes
This appetizer is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. It is seafood-based and contains fish and caviar.
Service Suggestions
- Serve as an amuse-bouche or tasting-menu appetizer.
- Pair with Vermentino, sparkling wine, or a mineral white wine.
- Keep caviar chilled and add it just before service.
| Calories | 420 kcal |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Carbohydrates | 8 g |
| Fat | 38 g |
| Fiber | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg |
| Sodium | 550 mg |