A basic fish stew recipe

I have called this 'basic' so as to distinguish it from a classic bouillabaisse, in whose preparation one would be marinating whole fish in saffron, grinding little fish (or 'soupe') into a preliminary soup base in a mouli legumes etc etc... very happily I'm sure.  You may debate with yourself whether the below recipe is simple or not.  I can only echo the words of everybody who has ever written about food, which is to say that once you know how, cooking with fish is quite a lot easier than cooking with meat, if only because it's so much quicker.

Serves 2 generously

1 litre fish stock (see separate blog post under the fish tag)
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 leek, split vertically and finely sliced
1/2 carrot, peeled, split and finely sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp tomato concentrate
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch bits
1 handful tubed pasta
1 salmon fillet
150g raw prawns (in the process of cooking this I discovered shell-on prawns which have had their backs split and cleaned, and are also easy to peel)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Sweat the vegetables in the oil with a little salt, adding each a few minutes after the last: shallots first, then leeks then carrot.  Add the garlic, stir briefly then add the tomato concentrate.  Cook stirring for one minute until it has turned a rusty colour.

Add the fish stock and potatoes and bring up to a simmer, skimming away any scum that is thrown off and discarding it.  Simmer uncovered (which will help concentrate the flavour) for 10 minutes.  Throw in the pasta and simmer until cooked - another 10 minutes.

Add the salmon, skin removed and cut into large pieces, and the prawns.  Stir, cover, and leave off the heat for the fish to gently cook in the residual heat for a few minutes only.

Taste for salt and correct.  Grind in some pepper and crush a couple of the potatoes to thicken the sauce a little.  Top with parsley and a little extra oil and pepper.

Croutons, rouille and gruyere would be strictly optional though very tempting!

Rouille of aioli with well-crushed garlic, lots of lemon juice, mustard
and cayenne pepper.  Manchego cheese worked well.