Portuguese Fish Stew - Serves 6

🕒 Prep time 15 minutes 🍳 Cooking time 35 minutes

This Portuguese style fish stew is a perfect dish for sharing on a warm summer evening and is even better-enjoyed al fresco with a crisp chilled white wine. The recipe incorporates saffron and smoked paprika in a rich tomatoey sauce and contains a mixture of fish including monkfish, prawns, and mussels but feel free to use any fish you like. Don’t waste any of the sauce just mop it all up with some crusty bread.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Large onion, thinly sliced
2 Large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Red pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 Yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 Tbsp Spanish smoked paprika
½ Tsp of saffron, mixed with a tablespoon of boiling water
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
300ml White wine
200ml Hot fish or vegetable stock
4 Tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
50g Tomato puree
400g Charlotte potatoes peeled cut into thick slices
400g Fresh monkfish, cod or sea bass, skinned and cut into large chunks
12 Large uncooked prawns, peeled and deveined
16 Mussels, cleaned
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 Lemons, cut into wedges

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large deep sauté pan, add the onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft but not brown. Add the garlic and peppers and fry gently for a further 3-4 minutes.

2. Stir in the paprika, saffron mixture, vinegar and wine and cook for a minute.

3. Pour in the stock, diced tomatoes and tomato puree. Finally add the sliced potatoes, cover the pan and bring to the boil then simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and black pepper.

4. Place the monkfish on top of the sauce, cover and continue to cook over a gentle heat for about 3 minutes. Add the prawns and mussels, replace lid and cook for another 4 minutes, the mussels should now be open (discard any that have not opened) and the prawns pink and tender.

5. Check seasoning then serve the fish stew in warm bowls with a sprinkling of parsley and a wedge of lemon.

Tip
Serve with warm crusty bread and butter. Add a few prawns in the shells if desired.