This is a giant pot of warming fish stew, meant for sharing that can be served for any meal over the Christmas period. It’s also great as a family dish for Good Friday.
Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 40 minutes/Serves: 4 (+1 hour marinating)
Ingredients:
For the marinated fish:
1.5kg monkfish tail, trimmed of sinews
600g cod fillet
8 large scallops, shelled and cleaned
20 live mussels, de-bearded and rinsed
2 squid (about 250-300g each), cleaned and sliced into rings
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 sprig rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
100ml light olive oil
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
For the stew:
olive oil
2 medium white onions, peeled and finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, cored, deseeded and finely sliced
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes ½ tsp
1/2 orange, finely zested (microplaned) and juiced
generous pinch of saffron strands
3 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
500g tomato purée
400g tin good quality chopped tomatoes, drained
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 small celeriac, peeled and chopped into thin sticks
300ml white wine
1.2l good-quality fish stock
100g brussels sprouts, shredded
150g tinned chestnuts, drained
For the rye bread croutons:
good-quality rye bread 6 slices
sunflower oil for frying
Method:
Cut the monkfish into 8 equal chunks. Cut the cod fillet to give 4 pieces. Put the monkfish, cod and scallops into a bowl and add the garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Mix carefully, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. When it is hot, add the onions, garlic and red peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until the vegetables have softened but not coloured. Now add the chilli flakes, orange zest, saffron, bay and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
Add the drained chopped tomatoes, orange juice, celery and celeriac. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Next, add the white wine and fish stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
Now add the monkfish to the stew base and cook for 1 minute. Next, add the cod, scallops, mussels and shredded brussels sprouts and cook for another 2 minutes. Finally, add the squid and chestnuts then cook for 2 minutes.
To make the rye bread croutons, cut the rye bread into ½cm cubes and heat some sunflower oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, shallow-fry the rye bread cubes until crispy then drain onto kitchen paper.
To serve, place the rye-bread croutons in serving bowls then serve the stew in the centre of the table for everyone to help themselves.
