Seafood Soup Recipe Bouillabaisse

Try a mixture of any firm white fish and shellfish such as whiting, cod, haddock, cooked shrimp and mussels. 

I would always use mussels and prawns, but the other fish I chose would depend on what looked good on the day.

Avoid oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, fresh tuna, sardines etc - they tend to make a soup a bit greasy and are best avoided.

Bouillabaisse
2 lb (900g) mixed fish (as above)
1lb (450g) mussels, scrubbed and bearded
1/4 pint (150ml) white wine
olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 sticks celery, destring and chop
1lb (450g) peeled and thinly sliced potatoes
1 pint (700ml) tomato juice or passata
2 bay leave
sprig parsley
sprig thyme
2 pieces of orange peel
pinch of saffron strands or 1 tspn saffron powder
creme fraiche, double cream or soured cream to serve
chopped fresh parsley to serve

Clean and cut the fish into quite substantial pieces - not too small.

Heat about 3 or 4 tbspns of olive oil in a heavy based pan and fry the onions and garlic until softened.

Add the celery and potatoes and fry for a further 2 minutes.

Add the tomato juice, herbs and orange peel and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the mixed fish but not any shrimp you might be using and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Whilst you are doing this, put the wine in a pan and add the mussels - steam until they open.

Add the mussels, their juices and shrimp to the soup and heat through.

Pour into individual bowls and add a blob of cream and some fresh parsley.

Serve with crusty bread, garlic bread or croutons.

This recipe serves about 8 people as a starter or 4 for lunch.

You can prepare this in advance up to steaming the mussels and adding the shrimp.

You may also like these recipes

Find A Seafood Recipe > Seafood Soup Recipes > Seafood Soup Recipe Bouillabaisse