The Codfish balls they are the perfect allies for even children to eat fish. Whether you use fresh or frozen cod, the result of this recipe is guaranteed: a crunchy and delicious shell that contains a tender and aromatic heart. Preparing fish balls with cod is really quick and easy, as in the case of Plaice meatballs. And with just a few ingredients you will obtain excellent meatballs as a second course or as a delicious appetizer to combine with a tasty sauce. Here’s how to make cod meatballs with our recipe.

Preparation

1

To prepare the Cod Meatballs, we used frozen cod fillets, but it is also possible to use fresh ones. In the first case, thaw them in a colander, then wash them under running water and dry them with a kitchen towel to remove all excess water. If using fresh fillets, wash and dry them well.

2

Finely chop the cod with the help of a sharp knife.

3

Separately, wash and dry the parsley, then finely chop it. Also remove the peel of the garlic and mash it with a garlic squeezer (or finely chop it with a knife).

4

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl: cod, chopped parsley and garlic, breadcrumbs, egg and salt. Mix well with the help of a wooden spoon.

5

With your hands, form balls of about 2.5 cm in diameter and then pass them well in the breadcrumbs.

6

Place all the meatballs on a work surface.

7

Meanwhile, in a pan, pour the oil for frying. Heat it over high heat until it reaches a temperature of 170 ° C (check this with a suitable cooking thermometer).

8

Fry the cod meatballs, a few at a time, in boiling oil until golden on the surface. It will take about 10 minutes in total.

9

Once cooked, drain them with a slotted spoon and gradually place them on absorbent kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
Once they are all cooked, serve them still hot.

Accessories

• A large bowl
• A sharp knife
• Chopping board
• Squeeze garlic
• kitchen thermometer
• Pot
• Skimmer
• Absorbent kitchen paper

Tips and tricks

• To make the cod meatballs recipe, you can use both fresh fish than frozen fish. In the second case you must also take into account the defrosting time of the fish and it will not be possible to freeze the fish balls again.
• To get a even more crunchy breadingtry replacing half the amount of breadcrumbs with cornmeal.
• For optimal frying of your cod fish balls, place a few meatballs in the pan at a time, so that the oil temperature does not drop. The ideal temperature would be around 170 ° -180 °
• For a lighter version cod meatballs, cooking can be done in the oven, instead of frying in a pan. In this case, just place the meatballs on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, sprinkle them with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and bake them for about 20 minutes at 180 ° C. Be careful to turn them at least twice during cooking, to prevent them from burning.
• This is our cod meatballs recipe, but it’s not the only one. They can be achieved greedy variants by changing the ingredients: try replacing the breadcrumbs with a boiled and mashed potato. Or you can add your favorite spices to the dough, such as thyme or rosemary. Furthermore, not only cod lends itself well to this preparation: other fish such as plaice, salmon or sea bass are also excellent for making delicious fish balls.

storage

Keep the cod meatballs closed in an airtight container placed in the refrigerator and consume them within 2 days at the latest. In this case you can quickly heat them in a pan with a drizzle of oil, or in the microwave (but they will probably lose their crunchy texture).

It is possible to freeze them raw, but only if all fresh and not defrosted ingredients have been used.