Bouillabaisse-Style Seafood Soup

• 4garlic cloves, minced
• 1fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 x 400gtin chopped tomatoes
• Fine salt, to taste
• 1large onion, diced
• 1 tspsmoked paprika
• 150 mldry white wine
• 600 mlfish stock
• 3 tbspolive oil
• 1pinch saffron threads
• 3 gfinely grated orange zest
• 300 graw king prawns, peeled and deveined
• 400 glive mussels in their shells, scrubbed and debearded
• 400 gfirm cod fillets, cut into large chunks
• 1red pepper, diced
• 4 tbspmayonnaise, for optional rouille (optional)
• 1garlic clove, crushed, for optional rouille (optional)
• ½ tspsmoked paprika, for optional rouille (optional)
• 1 tsplemon juice, for optional rouille (optional)
• 150 gbaguette, sliced and toasted, optional (optional)
• 10 gparsley, chopped, optional (optional)
• Black pepper, to taste

Method

1. 1Check the mussels, discarding broken shells and any open ones that do not close when tapped. Steep the saffron in 2 tbsp warm water while preparing the vegetables. Reserve 1 tsp of the olive oil for finishing.
2. 2Heat the remaining olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel and red pepper with a good pinch of salt and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened and just starting to catch gold at the edges. The salt now draws the water out and gets the sweetness moving.
3. 3Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika and orange zest and cook for 30–60 seconds until fragrant; watch the garlic, don't let it go past pale gold. Toast the paprika in the oil at the same time.
4. 4Pour in the white wine and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes to cook off the rawness. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, fish stock and saffron with its soaking water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, until the base has thickened slightly and tastes properly rounded. Season with salt and black pepper, then taste.
5. 5Add the cod and simmer gently for 3 minutes.
6. 6Add the prawns and mussels, cover and cook for 4–5 minutes until the mussels have opened, the prawns are opaque throughout and the cod flakes easily. Discard unopened mussels.
7. 7Taste the broth one last time and adjust the seasoning; a final pinch of salt, a crack of pepper. The saffron-tomato base needs to taste alive, not flat.
8. 8If serving rouille toasts, mix the optional mayonnaise, crushed garlic, smoked paprika and lemon juice and spread over the toasted baguette. Ladle the soup into bowls and divide the reserved teaspoon of oil between them. Add the optional rouille toasts and chopped parsley if using.

Per serving

kcal

392

protein

42.9g

fibre

5g

carbs

19.7g

fat

12.8g