RECIPE: Mediterranean Fish Stew

I love to watch Iron Chef America. The other night I saw an episode where they had made a Boulibaise. I didn't have all the ingredients for a classic Boulibaise and figured I could find something similar with ingredients from my stockpile. That's when I found this recipe for Mediterranean Fish Stew. I knew I purchased those boxes of Mediterranean Tomato & Basil flavored Starkist SeaSations for some reason. (I actually only wanted to buy the Lemon & Herb flavored one, but I got all 15 they had and needed 5 more, so I got a couple of the other varieties Starkist offered.) Again I tweaked this recipe because I don't like wine in anything, especially soup.


Mediterranean Fish Stew

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled & chopped
• 1 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and chopped
• 1 can 28 oz whole tomatoes with juice
• 2 cans 14 oz Vegetable broth
• 2 strips of lemon peel
• Salt
• 4 frozen Starkist SeaSations fish fillets, Mediterranean Tomato & Basil variety, slightly thawed and cut into cubes

Heat Dutch oven over medium heat and add oil. Add onions, celery and carrot. Saute until very tender about 15 minutes. Add garlic and parsley. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Add anchovies and let them melt into the vegetables. Pour in the tomatoes and using a potato masher, crush the tomatoes in the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in vegetable broth and add lemon peel. Season with salt and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste broth to see whether you need to add more salt. When it tastes good to your palate, add slightly frozen fish and simmer another 10 minutes or until fish is cooked through and flakes easily. 6-8 servings. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

VERDICT: This was another winner. I was really surprised. And I didn't even tell them about the anchovies! Really tasty soup. It would be great with really crusty bread, but we only had crescent rolls on hand so I unrolled them and added Italian seasoning, garlic powder & parmesan cheese. I re-rolled them and cut them into pinwheels. Baked them at 375 and they turned out to be a really nice complement to the soup.

Enjoy!