Cheap, easy-to-make, and easy to keep ingredients on hand for, this super simple fish stew is my go-to on busy evenings when it feels like only takeaway will do. Comfort food in a bowl, especially when served with crunchy homemade garlic toasts that far outweigh any shop-bought garlic bread in flavour and goodness. Sugar, gluten and dairy free, low carb, paleo.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small bulb fennel (you can use 3 sticks of celery instead but fennel gives more flavour), finely diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- large handful of sliced green beans (fresh or frozen) or 2 sliced (bell) peppers (fresh or frozen equivalent)
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced, optional
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 400 g (14oz) tin chopped or plum tomatoes (or passata)
- 4 fillets of any white fish (I use frozen)
- 200 g (2/3 cup) frozen prawns (cooked or raw, large or small)
- 200 g (2/3 cup) frozen cooked shelled mussels
- 150 g (1 cup) frozen peas
- chopped fresh parsley (and fronds from the fennel if you have some left)
- salt & pepper
- mayonnaise (ideally homemade olive oil or butter mayo) or sour cream, to serve
- 4 slices homemade, wholemeal or sourdough bread
- 2 tablespoons salted butter (or unsalted butter with a small pinch of sea salt), melted
- 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 fat garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs)
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Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or stockpot over medium heat, and fry the fennel, onion, beans or peppers, red chilli if using and garlic for about 5 minutes until softened, stirring regularly. Pour the tomatoes in and refill the tin with water or stock and add to the tin. Bring to the boil, add the fish and simmer for about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened (for fussy eaters who don't like lots of diced veggies in dinner, leave the fish out for 5-10 minutes and blitz the sauce in a food processor or with a hand held mixer until smooth before adding the fish and cooking through for 5-10 minutes). Throw in the prawns, mussels, and peas and simmer for another 2 minutes to heat through, then taste, season and serve hot with the fresh parsley and fennel fronds scattered over the top. A dollop of mayonnaise or sour cream goes a long way here, too.
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If making the garlic toasts, mix the melted butter, olive oil, minced garlic and parsley or mixed herbs in a small bowl. Heat a griddle pan (grill pan in America) over high heat until really hot and brush the bread slices generously with the garlic butter mix on both sides. Press into the hot griddle (grill) pan - it should sizzle and cook for 30 seconds-1 minute on each side until charred lines appear and the bread is hot and toasted. Brush again with any leftover garlic butter mix. Serve straightaway with the stew (or any other meals you love garlic bread with!).