Nathan Outlaw’s Fishmas Stew

A giant pot of seafood makes for a simple but luxurious celebratory meal for any occasion over the festive period

Christmas should be about spending quality time with family and friends, and what better way to do that than sharing this delicious fish stew with them? It’s really quite easy to make, but it looks and tastes very special, just right for a winter celebration dinner. Your fishmonger should be able to prepare most of the fish and seafood for you. Using good-quality prepared fish stock makes things easier but still adds depth of flavour.

Servings: 4

Author: Nathan Outlaw

Ingredients

For the Marinated Fish

1 monkfish tail about 1.5kg, bone removed, trimmed of sinews
600 g cod fillet
8 large scallops shelled and cleaned
20 live mussels de-bearded and rinsed
2 squid 250-300g each, cleaned and sliced into rings
1 clove garlic peeled and chopped
1 sprig rosemary leaves picked and chopped
zest of 1 lemon finely grated
100 ml light olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the Stew

olive oil
2 medium white onions peeled and finely sliced
4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
2 red peppers cored, deseeded and finely sliced
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
½ orange finely zested (microplaned) and juiced
big pinch saffron strands
3 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary
50 g tomato purée
1 can good quality chopped tomatoes drained
2 sticks celery chopped
1 small celeriac peeled and chopped into thin sticks
300 ml white wine
1.2 liters good-quality fish stock
100 g brussels sprouts shredded
150 g canned chestnuts drained

For the Rye Bread Croutons

6 slices good-quality rye bread
sunflower oil for frying

Instructions

Cut the monkfish into 8 equal chunks. Cut the cod fillet to give 4 pieces. Put the monkfish, cod and scallops into a bowl and add the garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Mix carefully, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. When it is hot, add the onions, garlic and red peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until the vegetables have softened but not coloured. Now add the chilli flakes, orange zest, saffron, bay and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
Add the drained chopped tomatoes, orange juice, celery and celeriac. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Next, add the white wine and fish stock and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
Now add the monkfish to the stew base and cook for 1 minute. Next, add the cod, scallops, mussels and shredded brussels sprouts and cook for another 2 minutes. Finally, add the squid and chestnuts then cook for 2 minutes.
To make the rye bread croutons, cut the rye bread into ½cm cubes and heat some sunflower oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, shallow-fry the rye bread cubes until crispy then drain onto kitchen paper.
To serve, place the rye-bread croutons in serving bowls then serve the stew in the centre of the table for everyone to help themselves.

Notes

Nathan Outlaw is the chef-owner of Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen and Outlaw’s New Road, Port Isaac, Cornwall