If you are cooking to impress or want to share that special meal then this fish soup hits the mark. I’ve used quite expensive ingredients – the king prawns make a great bisque, but you can play around and have cheaper alternatives with the fish. Most importantly is to boil the fish bones/heads, getting all the flavour out, so that you are left with a rich base. Any white fish offers a good stock. I picked up a couple of Gurnards, which were ideal. That’s all the hard work really, the fish just need a bit of prep and then just adding to the broth for 5 or 6 minutes to cook it through before it’s ladled out. For this recipe I used a couple of Hake Steaks and a handful of mussels. To finish the dish a quenelle of Rouille adds the final flavour bomb and you are ready to go.
Take the heads and shells of the prawns. De-vein them (run a sharp knife down their back, removing the digestive tract). De-bone the monk fish. Set prepared fish and bones to one side.
Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the shallots, carrots, celery and garlic to form your mirepoix.
Cook this through for about 5 minutes, then add the tomato puree, working the mixture together.
Add all the heads, bones and shells, stirring everything. Mix in a teaspoon of ground fennel and pour in about 300ml of water
Bring to the boil then reduce heat, allowing everything to blend together. You'll need to reduce the liquid content by half, before straining. Bin the bones & heads then return the liquid to the saucepan. If the consistency is to runny then add some corn flour to thicken.
Once you are happy, add the prawns and monkfish to the broth (isimmering) and cook through for about 6 minutes. Dress with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
