Wine Pairing with Pesto Cod

When I visit my local Waitrose regardless of what I’ve gone in there for, there are three things that I always do. Firstly I get a free coffee to drink whilst I browse with my ‘MyWaitrose’ card. Secondly I have a look at the English Wines as Waitrose stocks a large range and I like to bag a bargain when they have offers. Finally after I’ve checked out, I have a look at their free recipe cards and pick up the ones that appeal to me on my way out of the store.

I recently picked up a card that had a recipe for Pesto-baked Cod with potato and pea crush which I liked the look of, so I went home to try it out.

Wine Pairing with Pesto Cod – the recipe

For me, a midweek meal needs to be simple yet tasty and this one fits the bill. You mix four tablespoons of pesto (regular readers of this blog might remember from the Pesto Chicken blog we wrote a while ago that I make my own, but shop bought pesto works just as well) with two deseeded and chopped tomatoes. You then place four cod fillets in an oven proof dish topped with the pesto/tomato mixture. Meanwhile you boil up your potatoes adding frozen peas for the last three minutes. Once the potatoes and peas are ready you lightly mash them with a little butter, lemon juice and zest. Et Voilà! With minimum fuss, dinner is served.

Wine Pairing with Pesto Cod – the wine

The key ingredients here are tomatoes and pesto. The tomatoes giving high acidity and the pesto adding flavour to the dish. If we were just having baked cod with potato and pea crush then the dish would be delicate in flavour, it is the pesto that we need to consider for flavour intensity of our wine.

So to match the high acid and medium intensity of the dish it is as simple as choosing a wine with the same. So for suggestions from Waitrose, as that is where Julie was, I would recommend for whites: Waitrose Soave Classico £6.49, Waitrose Vina Taboexa Albariño £7.99, or Chapel Down Flint Dry £7.99 (currently reduced from £9.99). And reds: Cerro del Masso Poggiotondo Chianti £6.66 (from £9.99); Brancott Estate Pinot Noir, New Zealand £7.19 (from £9.99); Araldica Barbera D’Asti Superiore £8.99.

Cin cin!

Wine Pairing with Pesto Cod written by Julie Strutt DipM and Erica Dent DipWSET, Enjoy Discovering Wine