Fish soup: the recipe for a traditional seafood first course

The fish soup It is a dish based on mixed fish typical of the italian tradition: from the Fanese brodetto to the Ligurian buridda, from the Livorno cacciucco to the Neapolitan mussel soup, each coastal region has its own version of the recipe. What cannot be missing in today’s fish soup is the fresh fishoften combined with shellfish, crustaceans and molluscs, while in the past it was made mainly from fish waste, so much so that it was considered a dish of poor cooking.

Although not difficult, the preparation Is long, because the fish must be cleaned, filleted and cooked at different times, depending on the type. To speed up the process, you can buy previously cleaned fish or ask your trusted fishmonger to fillet it.

Depending on your tastes and what you find, you can make this first course of fragrant seafood with different types of fish soup: we choose rubio and monkfish, to which we add cuttlefish, prawns and mussels, to obtain a rich and very tasty soup. The cooking water from the mussels makes it even more delicious, but you can also use a tasty fish stock if you wish.

Discover how to prepare the fish soup following the step-by-step procedure and advice: it is perfect for a Sunday lunch with the family or an evening with friends, both in summer and winter. We advise you to accompany it with slices of toast or the croutons, which in addition to giving the dish a rustic and genuine touch, are ideal for collecting the rich cooking broth.

If you liked this recipe, also try the clam chowder, fish broth, and stewed blond, and don’t miss the international variations on the dish, like American clam chowder and French bouillabaisse.

How to make fish soup

Start by cleaning the fish, unless you bought it already cleaned. Using a metal wool pad, gently scrub the shell of the mussel to remove any impurities, then remove the byssus by pulling it to the sides. 1. Finally, rinse them well under cold running water.

Let the mussels cook for about 10 minutes in a high-walled saucepan together with extra virgin olive oil and white wine. 2covering the pot with a lid.

Once open, download them 3, leaving a few whole to add at the end of cooking the soup. Then filter your cooking water and keep it aside.

Remove the head of the prawns and peel them, removing the shell. 4also in this case leaving someone whole to which you will only remove the mustache.

With a toothpick, cut the loin of each shrimp and remove the dark filament from the gut. 5.

Proceed by removing the skin 6.

Then separate the pulp from the central bone and cut it into slices. 7.

Now take care of the blonde: with the point of a very sharp knife, cut the belly at the level of the lateral fins, just below the head. 8.

extract the entrails 9then cut the lateral and dorsal fins with the help of scissors.

Finally, remove the head of the cuttlefish. 10.

Remove your eyes and rostrum eleven.

cut it to pieces 12. Then rinse all the cleaned fish well under cold running water and drain.

Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a large skillet and add the finely chopped onion and garlic clove. Sauté, add the cuttlefish and leave to aromatize for 5 minutes over low heat. Pour the cooking water from the mussels 13cover with lid and cook for about 20 minutes.

When the cuttlefish is tender, add the chopped tomato pulp, the rubio and the monkfish. 14. Let cook for about 15 minutes; from this moment remember not to mix with the spatula but to shake the pot gently to avoid breaking the fish.

Finally add the prawns, both whole and peeled, and the peeled mussels. fifteen and let the fish soup cook for another 10 minutes.

At this point we add the whole mussels and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. sixteen.

Serve the fish broth piping hot, garnishing it with chopped fresh parsley and accompanying it with slices of toasted bread. 17.

Advice

We have chosen not to put salt, since the water from the mussels in which the fish is cooked gives it a good flavor; however, if you prefer, you can use it but only after cooking, when the flavors have blended.

You can season the fish soup with other aromatic herbs such as thyme or, if you like spicy flavors, with a pinch of chili powder.

Excellent freshly made, the fish soup can also be enjoyed the next day: try it for example as pasta seasoning. Alternatively, if you use fresh fish, you can make large batches and freeze it.