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Seafood soup
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1kg mixed fish and shellfish, such as clams, mussels, crayfish, squid, cuttlefish, gurnard and stone bass
- 1 shallot or ½ white onion
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 6 anchovy fillets
- 1tbsp capers, drained handful of parsley
- ½ red chilli, depending on strength
- 6tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1tbsp tomato purée
- 100g canned or fresh roughly chopped tomatoes (depending on season and flavour)
- 300ml hot water or hot fish stock
- 4 slices of white crusty bread, toasted
Method
First, pick over the shellfish, discarding any open or broken shells. Drop the clams into a bowl from a 15cm height so that any that are open and dead, or full of sand, will split open and can be discarded. Clean any barnacles off the mussels and pull off the beards. Discard any that don’t close. Cut fish into 4cm cubes, and squid or cuttlefish into 1cm rings or pieces. Set aside.
Using a large knife, finely chop the shallot or onion, 1 garlic clove, the anchovies, capers, parsley and chilli together. Heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole dish and fry the mixture slowly with a good pinch of salt and black pepper for 10 minutes. Add the tomato purée, then stir in the tomatoes.
Season the squid and cuttlefish with salt and add to the pan. Pour in the hot water or fish stock and cook for about 15 minutes and add the fish. After 15 minutes, add the shellfish.
Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until all the shells have opened, discarding any that haven’t. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Rub the toasted bread lightly with the remaining garlic and lay 1 slice in each serving bowl. Pour the soup over the top and serve immediately.
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