Subscribe to yellowsaffron for more great recipes ➤ [ Ссылка ]
The fish soup is a flavorful dish using fresh seafood; even though it's a bit complicated, its unique taste is definitely worth the effort! Find this and many more recipes with pictures on the Giallozafferano App (in English) [ Ссылка ]
***
Ingredients for 6 servings:
• 1 lb (500 g) of mussels
• 1 lb (500 g) of clams
• 6 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• just under ½ cup (100 ml) of white wine
• 2/3 lb (300 g) of scampi
• 2/3 lb (300 g) of prawns
• 1 ½ tbsp (20 g) of butter
• chopped parsley
• 2/3 lb (300 g) of baby cuttlefish
• ½ lb (250 g) of gurnard
• 2,2 lbs (1 kg) of turbot
• 2,2 lbs (1 kg) of monkfish
• 1/3 lb (150 g) of cherry tomatoes
For the fish stock
• fish scraps
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 carrot
• ½ white onion
• 4 ¼ pints (2 lt) of water
• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
One of the most important steps for a great fish soup is cleaning the fish. Begin with the turbot: pull out the guts from just below the head, cut off the fins with scissors, make a slit in the skin just above the tail, on both sides, and remove the skin, with a cloth. Fillet the fish. Set the scraps aside to use for the fish stock. Move on to the monkfish: it's skinless and headless, so remove the thin membrane covering the fish and the spine. Move on to the gurnard: insert the knife into the hole under the belly and cut upward toward the head, remove the guts, make a small cut at the end of the head and tail and cut into fillets, starting from the back; remove the skin from the fillets. Before cooking, check for any pin-bones, so run your finger over the surface and remove with tweezers. Move on to the baby cuttlefish: the procedure is the same as squids, remove the guts from the body, then cut off the eyes and the beak, at the base of the tentacles. Set the fish scraps aside, all but the guts, roughly cut into pieces; in a large pot, heat the oil with the chopped onion, celery and carrot, along with some chili pepper if you like, then add the fish scraps. Sauté for a few minutes, then pour in the water and let it boil for at least ½ hour. While the fish stock is simmering, clean the mussels and clams: remove the beard or byssus, take a clean stainless steel scourer and scrub the shells, or use a stiff brush. Clean all the mussels in this way. Move on to the clams: rinse repeatedly under cold running water, then tap each clam on a wooden board, with the opening facing down: if the cutting board is clean, the clam is ready to cook, if it leaves a dark spot, discard the clam as it's full of sand. In a large pan, put the oil and the garlic, cut in half or crushed. When the garlic is light brown, add the mussels and the clams, raise the heat to high and cover with a lid until they open. Wait for a few minutes. Then baste with white wine, sprinkle with some parsley and cook for another minute. When the shellfish is cooked, drain in a colander, that has been placed over a bowl to catch the cooking juice. If there is any remaining sand, strain through a cheesecloth. Shell the clams and the mussels, saving a few whole for garnish. Here is our shelled shellfish, the reserved whole shellfish and the strained cooking juice; do the same with the fish stock. Clean the prawns and scampi: lift up and break off the tail flap and remove the black vein with a toothpick; cut the head in half, as it contains the most flavors, and tap the claws with a knife to release the juices; repeat with all the scampi. Move on to the prawns: remove the head, the shell and the legs; if you want, leave the tail on, for garnish. Repeat with all the prawns. In a large pan, heat the oil and a small piece of butter; add the scampi and cook for a few minutes, crushing the heads to release the juices, that will make the sauce more flavorful. Remove the scampi from the pan and add the prawn shells and heads. Let them brown, then pour in a little white wine, or brandy; crush the heads. Drain the prawns and strain their cooking juice. Finally it's time to cook our fish soup: take a large pot, and pour in the fish stock, the shellfish juice and the prawn cooking juice. Then bring to a boil. When the liquid is boiling, salt a bit and add the cuttlefish, that has been cut into strips, the scampi, the cherry tomatoes, cut in half, and the monkfish, that has been cut into large chunks. The soup has returned to a boil, so add the whole fillets of turbot and gurnard, keep the heat low and let it simmer, as you don't want the fish to get mushy, then add the prawns and the shelled mussels and clams. Cook for at least 15-20 minutes on a very low flame. Lastly, add the reserved whole mussels and clams, and the fresh chopped parsley. Our fish soup is ready to serve, perhaps with toasted bread slices, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and rubbed with garlic.
