Bacalhau com Natas

Ingredients

• 600 g salt cod (bacalhau)
• 900 g potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 60 ml olive oil
• 700 ml sunflower oil, for frying
• 50 g butter, plus extra for the dish
• 50 g plain flour
• 500 ml whole milk
• 200 ml double cream
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 60 g grated cheese (Serra da Estrela, Gruyère or Emmental)
• Salt and white pepper, to taste

Before you cook

• Soak the salt cod in cold water in the fridge for twenty-four to thirty-six hours, changing the water four or five times.
• Drain the cod, remove the skin and bones, and flake it into large pieces.
• Peel the potatoes, cut them into 1.5 cm cubes, and dry them on a cloth.
• Slice the onions thinly and the garlic finely.
• Butter a deep ovenproof dish about 30 cm long.

Steps

1. Heat the sunflower oil in a deep pan to 160C.
2. Fry the potato cubes for eight to ten minutes, until cooked through and pale gold but not crisp.
3. Lift the potatoes onto kitchen paper and season them with salt.
4. Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat.
5. Add the onions, garlic and bay leaves and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring often, until the onions are completely soft and sweet.
6. Stir the flaked cod into the onions and cook for three minutes, just until it turns opaque.
7. Take the pan off the heat and lift out the bay leaves.
8. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
9. Whisk in the flour and cook it for two minutes, until it smells biscuity.
10. Pour in the milk a little at a time, whisking hard after each addition, until the sauce is completely smooth.
11. Simmer the sauce for five minutes, still whisking, until it thickly coats the back of a spoon.
12. Stir in the cream and grate in the nutmeg.
13. Season the sauce with salt and white pepper, keeping in mind that the cod is already salty.
14. Fold the fried potatoes and the cod and onion mixture into the sauce.
15. Heat the oven to 200C.
16. Tip the mixture into the buttered dish and level the top.
17. Scatter the grated cheese evenly over the surface.
18. Bake for twenty-five minutes, until the top is browned and the edges are bubbling.
19. Let the dish stand for ten minutes before serving, so it holds its shape on the spoon.