Fish Soup with Couscous and Bruschetta

Ingredients

2 1/2 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
1 long red chilli, seeded and chopped
80g tomato paste
150mL white wine
1.5L fish stock
1 Tbs chopped marjoram
2 Tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
240g white fish (such as ling or blue-eye trevalla), cut into 1 cm pieces
12 vongole (clams)
12 mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
120g calamari, cut into 3cm x 5mm strips
6 green (raw) prawns, peeled and deveined
6 scallops
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
3 scampi, halved lengthways

Couscous:

1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
200g couscous

Bruschetta:

6 slices crusty bread
1 clove garlic, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 Tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté without colouring for 4 minutes. Add the carrot, celery and chilli and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the tomato paste and stir into the vegetables.

Deglaze with the white wine, then pour in the fish stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables have softened and the flavours have all come together.

Add the marjoram, parsley, fish, vongole, mussels, calamari, prawns and scallops to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cover and reduce the heat further to a very gentle simmer. Cook for 5 minutes or until the prawns change colour, stirring once or twice, then add the scampi and cook for a further minute or two until the vongole and mussels have opened.

For the couscous, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of water into a small saucepan and add the olive oil and salt. Bring to the boil. Place the couscous in a large heatproof bowl and pour in the boiling water. Cover with plastic film and leave the grains to swell for a few minutes. Fluff with a fork to separate the grains.

For the bruschetta, toast the bread under a hot grill until lightly golden. Rub each slice with the garlic clove, then drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with parsley.

Spoon some warm couscous into each serving bowl. Divide the seafood and broth among the bowls and serve with bruschetta.

Credits: 'Love Italy' by Guy Grossi, Published by Penguin Group Australia

Photo Credits: Mark Chew