'Acqua pazza – literally ‘crazy water’ – is a fantastic base for stewing fish and shellfish. It’s incredibly versatile: the fish can be whole on the bone, like gurnard or red mullet, or fillets. Always good to add some clams or mussels, or both.'
INGREDIENTS
Serves 2-3
For the acqua pazza:
- 1 head of fennel
- 1 large brown onion
- 6 sticks of celery
- 2 medium shallots
- 1 leek
- 1 peeled garlic bulb, chopped
- 1 long red chilli, split
- Peel of 1 lemon
- Peel of 1 orange
- 1 tsp whole fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 3-4 fresh bay leaves
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme
- 6 parsley stalks leaves kept separate
- 1 bunch of basil
- A pinch of saffron (optional)
- 1 glass white wine
- 2 tins of tomatoes, or 1kg fresh toms, chopped
- 2lt fish stock
For the fish:
- 300g fish per person (gurnard, red mullet, either whole or on the bone)
- 250g clams or mussels per person
METHOD
Dice or slice the fennel, onion, celery, leek and shallots. Crush and chop the garlic. In a heavy based pot place the herbs, citrus peel, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, chilli and saffron if using.
Gently warm over a low heat. When the pan begins smelling strongly of the spices, but before they begin to colour add the olive oil followed by the vegetables plus the bay, thyme and parsley stalks, all tied up together. Season with salt and cook on a medium heat, slowly, allowing the vegetables to cook but not colour.
After 20 to 30 minutes, the vegetables should be soft. Add the tomatoes, season with a little salt and cook for another twenty minutes, allowing the tomatoes to cook and thicken. Once the general ‘wetness’ of the tomatoes has cooked out, add the glass of white wine and cook until the sauce thickens up and the wine isn’t so strong in the sauce.
Pour in the fish stock and bring to the boil, drop the heat down and cook slowly for thirty minutes, allowing all the flavours to mingle and become friends. The stew will need seasoning of salt, pepper, and probably lemon juice before using.
The acqua pazza is now your own to use however you wish. An easy way is to get a few fillets of fish and some clams from a fishmonger – around 300g of fish per person. Cut the fillets into inch or so wide strips, or thicker, season with some salt and add them all together along with the clams to the cool stock, cook very slowly until the fish can easily be pierced with a skewer and the clams are open.
Finish with a glug of olive oil and some lemon juice. You can add anything extra to the base – tinned white beans, or chickpeas, potatoes or whole broad beans left in their shell to braise slowly.
Always eat with bread to mop up all the juices.
