One of my favorite dishes ever – soup! Don’t agree? Think about it; it’s a one pot meal and has protein, vegetables, whole grains, and maybe fruit. Oh, and the best part – the broth. I could drink cups of different kinds of flavored stocks and broth all day, mmm.
I recently came across an interesting fish soup recipe that I changed around a bit. It’s Lent season, so I figured this would be the perfect time to share this simple, savory soup. Definitely a turnaround from the plain old lemon broiled fish.
Mediterranean Fish Soup
Ingredients
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
- 2 medium ribs of celery, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup white wine*
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 pinches saffron threads*
- 8 cups fish/shrimp stock*
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 orange, zest and juice
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1 fennel bulb, cut it half then slice thinly
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 pound firm white fish fillets*
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
- 1 tablespoon parsley
Directions
- In a soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat.
- Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add white wine, tomato paste, saffron, stock, crushed red pepper, orange juice and zest, thyme, rosemary and ginger – bring to a simmer.
- Cook uncovered for about 40 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced 1/3.
- Add the fennel and tomatoes and cook until fennel is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Season fish and shrimp with freshly ground pepper and cut the fish into 2 inch chunks.
- Add the fish, shrimp and parsley to the broth and allow to cook, stirring gently only once until the fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
*OPTIONS:
*white wine – whenever you are cooking, ALWAYS use wine you would drink. Not only does it taste like crap but cooking wine is also loaded with sodium!
*Saffron – very expensive, use sparingly! May substitute turmeric.
*stocks – I always use no-salt added stock for soups, but I could not find salt-free fish stock so I eliminated any other added salt.
*firm white fish – halibut, snapper, grouper, or (my favorite) cod.
I’m not a big fan of fish in soup but this is one exception. It’s so simple but so yummy!
Go make this on a cold evening – it will sure warm you up and keep you warm. Let me know what you think!!
#EatFreshCookBellissima
