Oven-Baked Cod with Roasted Pointed Cabbage & Light Browned-Butter Sauce
Gently oven-baked cod on sweet, soy-roasted pointed cabbage, with a lighter take on the classic Nordic browned-butter sauce — all the nutty flavour, a fraction of the butter and cream. Finished with toasted hazelnuts and dill.
Best for high-protein · low-carb · elegant weekend dinner
This is the kind of plate that feels like a restaurant dinner but is quietly good for you. Cod loin bakes low and slow so it stays silky and just-set, sitting on wedges of pointed cabbage that turn sweet and lightly charred in the oven with a little soy. The signature is the browned-butter sauce — and here's the trick: browned butter is so intensely nutty that a small amount carries the whole dish, so instead of 100 g of butter plus cream, this version browns just a knob of butter and stirs it through light crème fraîche loosened with a splash of stock, brightened with lemon and chives. You keep every bit of that toasty, silky character with a fraction of the saturated fat. Toasted hazelnuts and fresh dill finish it off.
Ingredients
For the cod
- 600 g skinless cod loin , in 4 pieces
- 1 clove garlic cloves , crushed
- 10 ml olive oil , to drizzle
- 2 g fine sea salt
For the roasted cabbage
- 500 g pointed cabbage , one cabbage, cut into 1 cm half-moons
- 15 g butter , in thin slices
- 15 ml soy sauce , 1 tbsp
- 1 g black pepper , freshly ground
For the light browned-butter sauce
- 20 g butter , for browning
- 150 ml light crème fraîche
- 50 ml fish stock or water , to loosen
- 8 g fresh chives , finely chopped
- 1 lemon , zest of half, juice of a third
To finish
- 30 g roasted hazelnuts , skins rubbed off, roughly chopped
- 5 g Fresh dill , to garnish
Instructions
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1
Heat the oven to 200°C fan (425°F). Spread the cabbage half-moons on a lined tray, drizzle over the soy, dot with the sliced butter and season with pepper. Roast until sweet and lightly charred at the edges, then turn the oven down to 120°C (250°F).
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2
Set the cod pieces in an ovenproof dish, drizzle with the olive oil, rub with the crushed garlic and season with salt. Once the oven has come down, bake low until the fish is just set and flakes but is still juicy in the middle.
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3
Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until fragrant and golden, rub off the skins in a cloth, then roughly chop.
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4
For the sauce, brown the small knob of butter in a pan over medium heat until it turns golden and smells nutty, whisking so it doesn't burn.
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5
In a separate small pan, warm the crème fraîche with the stock, then whisk in the browned butter until smooth. Stir in the chives, lemon zest and juice, and let it barely simmer. Taste and season with salt.
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6
Lay the roasted cabbage on plates, set the cod on top and spoon the sauce around. Finish with the toasted hazelnuts and plenty of fresh dill.