Brodetto (Italian fish stew)
by
- Main
- Medium
- 8
- 2 hours
PT2H
This seafood-packed brodetto recipe is comprised of five different types of fish and shellfish, but that's nothing compared to the classic brodetto all’Anconetana, which boasts a minimum of thirteen varieties! A stew designed to be packed with whatever the fishermen catch that day, you can vary the contents depending on what looks good at the fishmonger.
Ingredients
Brodetto
- 1 plaice, filleted, reserving the bones
- 1 mullet, (red or grey) filleted, reserving the bones
- 4 large prawns , or 8 smaller ones
- 150g of mussels , cleaned and bearded
- 150g of clams
- 1 white onion
- 1/2 fennel
- 1 celery stick
- 2 garlic cloves
- 8 vine tomatoes , San Marzano if possible
- 1 tbsp of fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- olive oil
- salt
Fish stock
- fish bones, (saved from the plaice and mullet) chopped into about 6 pieces
- 1 white onion, sliced
- 1/2 fennel , sliced
- 1 celery stick, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 handful of parsley stalks
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- olive oil
- salt
Method
1
Begin by making the fish stock. Gently sweat the onion, fennel and garlic in a splash of olive oil
2
Once translucent, add the fish bones and cover with 1.5l of water. Bring to the boil, then using a ladle, skim of any foam that settles on the surface. Add the thyme and parsley stalks, turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, skimming off any more scum that appears, Do not stir the stock or it will become cloudy
3
Meanwhile, finely slice the vegetables for the brodetto and roughly chop the tomatoes
4
Add a big glug of olive oil to a large pan and fry the fennel seeds and coriander for a few seconds. Add the sliced onion, fennel, celery and garlic. Sweat on a low heat until translucent, then add the tomatoes. Sweat down for a further 5 minutes, stirring to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan
5
Drain the fish stock through a fine sieve into a bowl. Gently press down onto the bones to extract all the liquid
6
Discard the bones and add the fish stock to the pan with the spices and vegetables. Leave to simmer for an hour
7
Once the stew has reduced by about a third, add the mussels, clams, prawns and fish and cover with a lid. Cook for 4–5 minutes. The mussels and clams should have opened and the fish and prawns should be cooked through. If not, cook for a further minute or so
8
Serve straight away with some crusty bread
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Brodetto (Italian fish stew)
