Bouillabaisse is the French name for a seafood stew- sounds fancier when you call it Bouillabaisse though! It’s said to be from Marseille and is the ideal warm-me-up dish.
Yield: 8 servings.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. of olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 1/2 bulb fennel, diced
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- Pinch hot pepper flakes, optional
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup Pernod or Dry Vermouth
- 6 cups clam juice or fish stock
- One 19-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes
- 1 bay leave
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 healthy pinches of saffron
- 2-inch peel of orange zest
- Eight 2-ounces pieces of white fish, such as a snapper
- 16 large shrimp, peeled
- 16 mussels, washed
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh chervil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 baguettes, sliced for serving
Method
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion, carrot and fennel and sauté until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and hot pepper flakes. Stir. Cook for 1 minute. Deglaze the pot with white wine and Pernod. Let reduce for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the clam juice, chopped tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme and saffron and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Add orange zest. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Just want the flavours to start to marry.
- Add fish and shrimp to pot. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes. Add mussels and continue to cook until fish and seafood just cooked through, and mussels have opened, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped chervil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with baguette slices.