SERVES 2


ROMESCO DE PEIX

CATALAN FISH STEW

Very simple and very good indeed. This is another recipe with lots of preparation which can be done in advance, and the actual cooking takes minutes only.

We are using the very Spanish method of preparing a sauce and thickening it with almonds, the fish is then cooked in the sauce. You can use whatever fish you chose. Monkfish would be good, but as we cooked this straight after our Christmas Cacciucco, we used Cod for a change. Small clams such as Palourde, or carpet shell clams are also very good, but again, we couldn't find any, so we used Mussels. I think we need to have a serious discussion with our fishmonger !
 

INGREDIENTS

Romesco


1 Spanish Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
Olive Oil
3 Medium size Tomatoes
1Lb Cod
1Lb Mussels
1 Red Pepper
2 Glasses Dry White Wine
1 heaped Tablespoon Ground Almonds
1 tablepoon Finely Chopped Rosemary
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
A Dash of Sherry Vinegar
2 Bay Leaves
Saffron
Flat Leaf Parsley

Stock

1 Medium Sized Potato, Roughly Chopped
1 Carrot Roughly Chopped
1 Leek Sliced White Part Only
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Medium Sized Onion Roughly Chopped
1 Stick of Celery Roughly Chopped
1 Small Bunch of Parsley
12 Black peppercorns
2 Pints (300 ml) Water
Fish

 

PREPARATION
Start by making the stock.

Roughly chop the vegetables and put in a pan with the water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Strain off the vegetables and throw them away. Add asmall piece of your Cod  to the liquid and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Strain off the fish and transfer the liquid to a clean pan.

Whilst all this simmering is going on, chop the Onion, Select a pan big enough to hold all your ingredients, cover the bottom of the pan with Olive oil, and gently fry the onion until it is soft and golden, stirring from time to time. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

We may as well use our stock to skin the tomatoes, so put them in the stock for about 30 seconds, and take them out again with a slotted spoon. The skins should now peel off easily. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, and then cut out the seeds and throw them away. Dice the tomatoes.

Wash the mussels in plenty of cold water, scrape off any barnacles and pull off the 'beards'. Discard any mussels which are open and refuse to close when rapped with the edge of your knife. Put the clean mussels in a large pan with a glass of  white wine over quite a high heat, and put a lid on the pan. When all the mussels have opened, Strain off the liquid and reserve. Discard  any mussels which have refused to open.  Take most of the mussels out of their shells, but leave a few so we can use them in their shells as decoration later.

Quarter and de seed the Red Pepper, and slice it thinly. Also thinly slice the Garlic. Finely chop the Rosemary.

The Onion should be ready now, so add the Red Pepper, Garlic, Rosemary and continue cooking gently until the Red Pepper has softened. About 10 minutes say.

Now add a glass of white wine, and allow the alcohol to bubble away. Add the Tomatoes, Stock, Saffron  Bay Leaves, Paprika and the mussel liquid , turn up the heat a bit and let everything bubble away merrily. It should all cook down to make our sauce. Another 10 minutes, say.

Finally, add a dash of sherry vinegar, and stir in the Ground Almonds. This will thicken the sauce. Taste, and add salt if you need to.

Just before you are ready to eat. Put the Cod in the sauce, skin side down. Add the reserved mussels, and scatter the mussels still in their shells over the top.

Leave 5 minutes until the cod is cooked, and serve.   Scatter a bit of chopped parsley over the top.