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Seafood soup
Serves 4 Starters and mains
For the soup
- 3 x whole white fish (such as bream, John Dory or snapper), gutted
- large handful prawns, in shells
- large handful mussels, in shells
- 400g waxy potatoes, such as Desirée, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks
- 1tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- drizzle olive oil
For the fish stock
- 250g turbot, sole, or other whole fish bones and crab carcasses if you have them
- 3 leeks
- 1 bulb fennel, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 3 carrots, roughly chopped
- large handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 175ml dry white wine
- 1 bay leaf
Method
Fillet the fish, set aside the trimmings and remove any small pin bones from the fillets with tweezers. Set the fillets aside to be added to the soup later.
To make the stock, rinse the fish bones and trimmings of any blood, which would make the stock look cloudy and taste bitter. Place the leeks, fennel, onions and carrots into a large heavy- bottomed stockpot. Add the parsley and the fish trimmings to the stockpot. Pour in the white wine, then add enough cold water to cover the fish and vegetables (around 1 litre). Add the bay leaf and season to taste. Place the stockpot onto a high heat and bring the liquid to a simmer. After 5 minutes, remove the scum that forms on the surface with a spoon and discard. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for around 25 minutes, skimming any scum as necessary.
At the end of the cooking time, remove the stock from the heat and strain, discarding the fish trimmings and the vegetables.
To make the soup, place the potatoes into the fish stock. Bring to the boil and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the potatoes are nearly cooked.
Cut the fish fillets into 5cm pieces. Discard any mussels that are open or that don’t close when tapped or have broken shells.
Add the prawns, mussels and white fish to the saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that have not opened during cooking. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
To serve, ladle into soup bowls, scatter with parsley, drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.
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