Ligurian Fish Stew

So in order to lose some weight, as summer is quickly approaching, Dan and I have been working out. But as most of you know, that’s only half the battle. The other half, is eating right, and boy is that hard when you’re craving a big gai bao or a big plate of pasta, or a burger, or pizza (I can go on forever). So, in order to eat right I’ve tried to prepare more healthy meals, which brings me to my first recipe post, LIGURIAN FISH STEW!

I thought about how much I love fish, and how I love stews and I went online and I found two recipes and then made it my own. The first recipe is Giada’s Ligurian Fish Stew from foodnetwork.com, and the other recipe is the Provencal Fish Stew from epicurious.com; the fish soup from Berkeley’s Great China restaurant also inspired me as well. I was inspired to make my own recipe and I hope you enjoy it. I also know that cooking is so subjective so you can leave out or add any of your own ingredients and just use your tastebuds to judge! Here is my own version..

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium carrot, peeled and medium diced
• 3 celery, medium diced
• 1 leek thinly sliced, white and light green parts only (make sure you rinse well, they are very sandy)
• 1 onion, medium diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 Roma tomatoes, large dice
• 1 cup fish stock (optional)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper, for seasoning
• 3/4 cup white wine, I used a varietal blend but you can use any white you like, should be on the less heavy side, (I dislike pinot grigios but its up to you)
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed San Marzano (found this at whole foods but you can use any kind you like, San Marzano tomatoes are from Italy and are sweeter)
• ½ - 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus extra for garnish
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 1/2 pounds whitefish fillets, halibut, cod or arctic char, skinned and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro – If you’re Heidi don’t use cilantro since Mike doesn’t like it, you can use flat leaf parsley instead.
• 1 orange peel
• Lemon wedges for garnish

Crostini:

· 1 Loaf Ciabatta or any rustic bread you like

· Olive Oil to brush on

· 1 Garlic clove

Directions:

For the stew: In a 6-quart, heavy bottomed stock pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, use just enough to almost coat the bottom of the pot. Add the carrot, onion, leek, celery and garlic. Season with salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 to 8 minutes. Wait till the vegetables soften and you get brown bits of yummy goodness on the bottom. Turn the heat to high. Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the canned tomatoes, roma tomatoes, fish stock, 1 bay leaf, orange peel and red pepper flakes, if too stewy for you and you need more liquid add either water or some wine (why not? You paid for a whole bottle, you better use it! Just don’t use too much or it will taste like wine stew!~).

Reduce the heat and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 18 to 20 minutes. Season the fish with salt and add to the stew. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Season the stew with salt, if needed, add more red pepper flakes if you like it spicier (which we did!). Remove the bay leaf and orange peel before serving.

For the Crostini: Put an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange the bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until light golden, about 12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes. Rub the warm toasts with the cut side of the garlic.

OR – use a Panini grill, brush/drizzle olive oil on both sides of the toast and put in grill till toasty and grill marks appear, then rub with garlic while toast is still hot/warm.

TIP – don’t rub too much garlic on it or else it will become bitter

Ladle the stew into serving bowls and garnish with cilantro and lemon. Sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top. Serve with the crostini.

Then -- ENJOY!! As you can see, Dan did!!