Summer Seafood Stew
Summer Seafood Stew
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanIn a season four episode of Weekends with Yankee, Amy hunted for invasive green crabs on the New Hampshire seacoast and then cooked her catch into a mouthwatering seafood stew with Chef Brendan Vesey of Botanica Restaurant in Portsmouth. This recipe from the Yankee archives is another summer seafood stew favorite.
Substitute other varieties of fish and shellfish in this recipe as needed.
Yield:
8 servingsIngredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 pinches saffron
1/4 cup olive oil
2 large tomatoes, chopped
3 cups tomato puree
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
6 to 8 cups water
1 pound mussels, shells scrubbed clean
18 littleneck clams
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 to 1-1/2 pounds of white fish (such as halibut, cod, or haddock), cut into large pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 1-1/4-pound lobster, cooked, with meat removed (optional)
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 bulb fennel, quartered and very thinly sliced
Garnish: thyme sprigs
Toasted garlic bread
Instructions
In a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, celery, and saffron in olive oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, Tabasco sauce, and water. Simmer together 8 minutes longer. Add mussels, clams, shrimp, fish, parsley, thyme, and orange peel. Simmer together until fish flakes easily and clams open. Chop lobster meat, if used, and add to pot with salt and pepper; cook until lobster is just warmed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in large bowls with sliced fennel sprinkled over top. Garnish with thyme sprigs and serve with toasted garlic bread.