Bread and Fish Soup
Using crusty or stale bread in the bottom of a soup bowl and drenching it in hot broth is a Mediterranean tradition that works with any soup from vegetable beef to minestrone. This is one of my favorites
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large leek, white part diced and green part roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 6 Roma tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
- 1⁄2 teaspoon saffron threads (if you can’t find saffron, use turmeric)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons tomato puree
- 2 cups dry white wine (Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc work well—avoid sweet wine)
- 11⁄2 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound fish, such as whitefish, bass, halibut, or snapper, or a combination, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons Rouille
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups torn pieces of crusty bread, toasted in the oven
Instructions:
This recipe is so filling and satisfying that you won’t even notice how nutritious and low-fat it is.
- In a stock pot, soup pot, or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and leek greens (not the white parts), and cook while stirring for 3–4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook 3 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, saffron (crushing with the tips of your fingers), bay leaves, and red pepper flakes, and cook 2 minutes more. Add the tomato puree and cook 3–4 minutes. Add the wine. Stir well and cook until the liquid mixture is reduced by half. This should take 20–30 minutes.
- Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes. Cool slightly, then strain the soup stock through a mesh strainer, reserving the strained stock and discarding the vegetable parts.
- In another large soup pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add the leek whites. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the cubed fish and the soup stock you just made, above. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium so it is simmering.
- Swirl the rouille into the hot soup, then taste. Adjust the seasonings, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Remove the bay leaf.
- To serve, place pieces of crusty bread in each of four serving bowls. Ladle the soup over the bread. You can garnish with fresh chopped oregano and parsley if you have them available.