Fish soup is a delicious dish made with fresh fish, an essential component of Italian coastal culinary traditions. Each seaside town guards its own recipe, such as the famous brodetto fanese or the typical clam soup, as well as simple fish stew. What makes this soup special is the fish broth: an intense broth made with the fish scraps from all the fish used in the preparation, which will release all their flavors during cooking. Accompany the soup with slices of homemade bread to give a rustic and genuine touch to this delicious first course. Although a bit laborious, fish soup is worth preparing: its flavors and aromas will transport you to the seaside for a day.
Fish Soup
INGREDIENTS
Shrimp (to be cleaned) 6
Cuttlefish (cleaned) 400g
Poor cod (to be cleaned) 550g
Monkfish tail (to be cleaned) 500g
Red mullet (to be cleaned) 550g
Extra-virgin olive oil a.s.
Garlic 2 cloves
Parsley a.s.
White wine 50g
Salt a.s.
Black pepper a.s.
Tomato puree 500g
Fish soup Calories
Difficulty: Difficult
Preparation: 60 min
Cooking: 45 min
Serves 6
Cost: High
Note + 2 hours for the fish broth to cook
Fish Soup
PREPARATION
How to prepare Fish Soup
To make the fish soup, start by cleaning the poor cod: after removing the guts and rinsing it, cut the dorsal part along the central bone 1, then divide it into two fillets 2, and remove the smaller bones with a kitchen tweezers 3. Keep the scraps which will be used for the broth.
Now deal with the red mullet: after removing the guts and rinsing it, remove the head and tail 4, cut the dorsal part and obtain two fillets by removing the central bone 5. You can also make an incision at the base of the red mullet’s head, then run the blade from the head to the tail to obtain the first fillet. Also, remove the bones with tweezers. Keep the scraps. Now also clean the monkfish: remove the guts, tail, fins, skin, and make a cut with a knife along the spine, next to the central bone, then obtain the fillet, and cut it into pieces 6. Keep the scraps aside.
Clean the shrimp: remove the head and the tail, remove the shell 7, and extract the dark fiber on the back 8, using a toothpick. Now wash the vegetables and cut them into pieces for the fish broth 9.
In a pan, pour the vegetables 10, parsley, fish cleaning scraps 11, and whole peppercorns. You can choose whether to use black or white pepper 12.
Cover with water 13, turn on the heat, and cook for two hours from boiling. During cooking, remove the foam that will form on the surface with a skimmer 14. Meanwhile, clean the mussels: make sure they are all closed, those that are broken or open must be discarded. Remove any dog teeth on the shell with a small knife, remove the beard, and finally scrape away impurities with a clean pad 15.
Now rinse them thoroughly 16. In a pan, heat a little oil with a peeled garlic clove 17. Pour the mussels 18 and cover with a lid. Cook for 3-4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
The mussels must all be open 19. Drain them through a strainer to collect their cooking water 20. Then shell them out 21, taking care to keep a few mussels with the shell for the plate decoration.
Now cut the cuttlefish into strips 22. In a large pot, heat some oil with two peeled garlic cloves, pour the cuttlefish and brown them over high heat for 3-4 minutes 23. Deglaze with white wine and let it evaporate 24.
Pour in the tomato puree 25 and the mussel cooking water 26. Cover with a lid and cook for 25 minutes 27.
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