Cod and orzo get a classic Italian treatment in this skillet meal

I’ve never had a food allergy or strong aversion to anything edible, but, like everyone, I have preferences and dislikes. I recently noticed that whenever I went shopping for fresh or frozen fish, I almost never chose cod.

I’d see the fillets lined up neatly next to the other seafood, but I’d always pass them by, opting instead for the striped or black bass, red snapper or wild salmon. A couple of months ago, I decided it was time to get to know cod in the kitchen.

It’s been years since I read Mark Kurlansky’s “Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World,” but I did recall the premise: The Atlantic’s once-plentiful stocks of cod were the why and how the Vikings crossed the Atlantic, but in the centuries since, overfishing has devastated supply so drastically that Atlantic cod is no longer the economical protein it once was.

That said, plenty of cod-like fish in the Northern Pacific or elsewhere in the Atlantic — including haddock, pollack, whiting and hake (also labeled merluza) — can be cooked the same way, according to John Ash’s “The Hog Island Book of Fish & Seafood.”

Mostly I’ve eaten cod in fish cakes and fish and chip preparations, where the flavor of the flesh doesn’t seem to matter much. Unfortunately, when I started to cook grocery store cod and its ilk, I found it rather bland. A squeeze of lemon helped, but only a little. What I wanted was a thick, meaty fillet of whitefish that dazzled with flavor and didn’t require a lot of work to get there.

One day, after flipping through an Italian cookbook, I decided to apply the elements of an Amatriciana sauce to a skillet cod dinner: tomatoes, pork and cheese. Those big flavors can do no wrong.

For this recipe, you’ll coat cod fillets in grated pecorino Romano and sear them so the cheese forms a crispy frico over the fish. Bacon — here taking the place of traditional guanciale — and onion form a sweet-salty base for quick-cooking orzo. Cherry tomatoes, those greenhouse gems, slump and release their juices to turn into a sauce in the same skillet as the one used for cooking the orzo.

I added smoked paprika to enhance the smokiness of the bacon. I also like how it turns the sauce a deeper rouge. The single slice of bacon adds rich fat and flavor, but because of the smoked paprika, you can cut it and still end up with a deeply flavorful skillet of pasta and fish. It’s the kind of thing that sounds and tastes a little fancy, but takes only 30 minutes from start to finish.

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Skillet Orzo With Cod and Cherry Tomatoes

2 tablespoons grated pecorino Romano cheese

2 cod fillets (8 ounces total), skinned, deboned and defrosted, if frozen

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 slice (about ½ ounce) bacon, diced

1 small yellow onion (5 ounces), diced

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ cup (4 ounces) dried orzo

1 pint (10 ounces) cherry tomatoes, halved if desired*

1 cup water, plus more as needed

⅓ cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio

¼ teaspoon fine salt

Freshly ground black pepper, for serving

Fresh basil leaves, for serving

Sprinkle the cheese over the flattest side of each of the fillets, using your fingers to press it into the moisture on the surface of the fish, which will help it adhere. Set a plate near your work area.

In a medium (10-inch) nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the cod, cheese side down, and cook, without moving, until the cheese turns golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Flip the fillets, and cook until they are just cooked through and starting to flake, another 2 to 4 minutes, depending on how thick they are. Transfer the fish to the plate, cheese side up.

Add the bacon to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally and allowing its fat to render into the residual oil in the pan, until the bacon is browned but not crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in the paprika and orzo, and cook, stirring constantly, until the pasta becomes lightly toasted and everything is fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes, water, wine and salt. If necessary, briefly increase the heat to bring the mixture to a boil, then return it to medium, cover tightly, and cook until the orzo is al dente and the tomatoes slump, 5 to 7 minutes. Uncover, stir again and add a splash of water if the pasta seems dry. Nestle the cod into the pasta, cheese side up. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is absorbed by the orzo and the fish is hot but not falling apart, 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve hot, family-style, with freshly ground black pepper and basil leaves on top.

2 servings (makes 2 fillets and generous 2 cups orzo)

Substitutions: For cod, use haddock, halibut, salmon or hake. For pecorino Romano, use Parmesan, grana Padano or other hard, grated cheese. Or skip the cheese, use skin-on fish and sear it until the skin is crisp before proceeding with the recipe. The bacon adds a lot of flavor, but you can skip it and instead add another tablespoon of olive oil to cook the onions. For smoked paprika, use sweet paprika, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes or 1 tablespoon tomato paste. For orzo, use pastina or pearl couscous. Can’t have alcohol? Use more water instead of wine or use nonalcoholic wine. For a saucier dish, halve the cherry tomatoes so they release their juices into the orzo. For tomatoes, use chopped zucchini, yellow squash, tart yellow plums or green olives. For fresh basil, use fresh oregano or parsley.

Nutritional information per serving (1 fillet, plus generous 1 cup orzo mixture) | 651 Calories: 29g Fat, 7g Saturated Fat, 69g Carbohydrates, 831mg Sodium, 51mg Cholesterol, 28g Protein, 4g Fiber, 11g Sugar

— G. Daniela Galarza