Seafood Soup with Parmesan Croutons

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When your husband offers to cook for you + serves up this amazing soup for a quiet, late Saturday afternoon lunch. Recipe from David Herbert, thank you.

 

Italian-style seafood soup 

Serves 4-6

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled + finely sliced

1 carrot, scrubbed + finely sliced

1 stick celery, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 small fennel bulb, finely sliced lengthways

2 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

½ tsp dried chilli flakes

1 large glass white wine

750ml fish or vegetable stock

750g fish fillets (use two types with firm white flesh)

250g large uncooked prawns, shell on 

2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tbsp chopped basil

(My husband added some mussels as well - around 15….)

 

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrot, celery + garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft but not coloured. Add fennel, tomatoes, bay leaf, chilli, white wine + stock and bring to the boil. Turn down heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Cut fish into bite-size pieces; add fish, mussels + prawns to stock mixture and simmer for a few minutes until cooked through. Sprinkle with chopped herbs + season to taste. Serve with croutons or crusty bread. 

 

Parmesan croutons

6 thick slices rustic white bread or 1 small baguette

¼ cup olive oil 

1 clove garlic, finely sliced

½ cup freshly grated parmesan

 

Cut bread into cubes + transfer to a bowl. Combine oil, garlic + parmesan; pour over cubes + toss to coat; add a pinch of salt. Spread over a baking tray + bake in a preheated 180ºC oven for 5 minutes, then toss and return to the oven for another 5 minutes, until coloured and crisp. Alternatively, cut a small baguette into 5mm slices. Combine oil and garlic and brush over both sides of the slices. Place in a single layer on a large baking sheet + sprinkle one side with some parmesan. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn and cook until crisp and coloured.