Chef Dan Souza's Roasted Cod with Lemon-Garlic Potatoes
The air fryer excels at cooking both crispy potatoes and moist, flaky fish, and this elegantly simple recipe combines both into an easy dinner for two.
ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lemon, grated to yield 2 teaspoons zest and sliced ¼ inch thick
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large russet potato (12 ounces), unpeeled, sliced ¼ inch thick
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley, chives, or tarragon
- 2 (8-ounce) skinless cod fillets, 1¼ inches thick
prep
- Make foil sling for air-fryer basket by folding 1 long sheet of aluminum foil so it is 4 inches wide. Lay sheet of foil widthwise across basket, pressing foil into and up sides of basket. Fold excess foil as needed so that edges of foil are flush with top of basket. Lightly spray foil and basket with vegetable oil spray.
- Microwave 1 tablespoon butter, garlic, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper in medium bowl, stirring once, until butter is melted and mixture is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add potato slices and toss to coat. Shingle potato slices on sling in prepared basket to create 2 even layers. Place basket in air fryer and set temperature to 400 degrees. Cook until potato slices are spotty brown and just tender, 16 to 18 minutes, using sling to rotate potatoes halfway through cooking.
- Combine remaining 2 tablespoons butter, remaining 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and parsley in small bowl. Pat cod dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Place fillets skinned side down on top of potato slices, spaced evenly apart. (Tuck thinner tail ends of fillets under themselves as needed to create uniform pieces.) Dot fillets with butter mixture and top with lemon slices. Return basket to air fryer and cook until cod flakes apart when gently prodded with paring knife and registers 140 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes, using sling to rotate potato slices and cod halfway through cooking.
- Using sling, carefully remove potatoes and cod from air fryer. Cut potato slices into 2 portions between fillets using fish spatula. Slide spatula along underside of potato slices and transfer with cod to individual plates. Serve.
Hot Tips: Thinly slicing a russet potato and shingling it not only made an attractive bed for the fish but also helped it to cook faster. We tossed the slices with melted butter, garlic, and lemon zest, arranged them in two layers on a foil sling for easy removal, then roasted them until they turned tender and spotty brown before laying cod fillets on top and letting it all cook together. A pat of lemon- herb compound butter and lemon slices basted the fish with flavor as it cooked. Soon we had a perfect dinner of subtly flavored cod and fragrant potatoes. You can substitute halibut or haddock for the cod.
