Bacalao a la Romana con pisto, flour and egg fried cod over Spanish pisto with saffron alioli

Heat a fry pan over medium heat with a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil.

Roughly chop the onion, thinly slice the garlic and cut the red bell pepper and the small zucchini into bite-sized pieces.

Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper to the hot pan, not the zucchini, and mix so everything is coated in the oil. Stir every minute or so for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion is slightly translucent.

Add the zucchini and saute a few more minutes, about 3 to 4, stirring every minute or so.

Add the can of diced tomatoes, season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and a dash of white sugar to cut the acid, and mix well.

Lower to a low-medium heat and simmer the vegetables 10 to 15 minutes so the flavours develop.

Heat a separate fry pan over medium heat with another quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil.

Pat the cod fillets completely dry on paper towels, season both sides with sea salt and black pepper, and cut each fillet into two evenly sized pieces.

Put the all-purpose flour in one shallow bowl. Crack the eggs into another, season with sea salt and black pepper and whisk.

Coat each piece of cod first in the flour and then in the egg wash, fully coated at each stage.

Once the oil is hot, add the fish in a single layer, evenly spaced, and fry about 3 minutes per side until golden fried and just cooked through. Transfer to a dish lined with paper towels and let them sit a few minutes.

For the alioli, pound the roughly chopped garlic, the saffron threads and a pinch of sea salt in a mortar with a pestle until they form a paste.

Add the mayonnaise, the lemon juice and the tablespoon of olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper and whisk to a creamy sauce.

Take the pisto off the heat, spoon some into a serving dish, top with the fried cod and a dollop of the alioli, and garnish with fresh parsley.

Serve with a crunchy baguette to mop up the sauce.