Last Night's Dinner #124: Seafood Stew

Hillsy and I were walking around the Farmer's Market this morning and we saw these lovelies, which inspired last night's dinner.


We've been wanting to try out the fish from the market and everything looked so good - so what better way to test out a couple of different things that with a seafood soup stew?

This is an easier version of the Fish Soup I made a while ago.


You'll need:
5 plum tomatoes coarsely chopped (not necessary but they looked so good, I couldn't resist)
one white onion coarsely chopped (big pieces)
2 cloves of garlic, remove skin & leave whole
1/2 big can of Italian tomatoes
2 lbs of your favorite seafood (I used 1/2 lb scallops & mussels, small piece of tuna and flounder)
handful of fresh parsley coarsely chopped
a couple of sprigs of oregano and thyme, leaves only *optional
2 cups of water
splash of wine (white or red) *optional
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste

Cover the bottom of deep pot (cast iron if you have one) with olive oil. Add garlic and onion, season with salt. Add 1/2 of parsley, oregano, thyme and pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for 3-5 minutes then add tomatoes. Season again with salt.

Cook until the tomatoes soften, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Optional - add a splash of wine. Mix and cook for a minute or two.

Add canned tomatoes and juice (crush tomatoes). Cook for about 15 - 20 minutes, lower heat if necessary.

In the meantime, cut fish into big chunks. I'd have to say that the tuna worked really well in this dish, the flounder - not as much. I thought it was a little fishy and too flaky. Next time, I'll probably give swordfish a try or maybe even squid. The scallops were the best - nice and sweet! Season fish with salt.

Taste the soup base and make sure that you've added enough salt. Transfer seafood into the pot and cover with lid.

Be careful not to overcook. It took me about 3 to 4 minutes. As soon as the mussel shells opened, everything else was ready. You might have to mix it midway to turn the fish pieces.

Serve with hunks of bread and top with hand torn fresh basil and parsley!

ps. one of my pet peeves is overcooked seafood, so once the fire goes out I immediately fish out the fish so they don't cook any further from the heat of the soup.

It was really good!