We have not made this dinner in a long time, probably five years or more. The Mediterranean fish soup is adapted from a recipe by Rick Stein. We used what fish and shellfish we had in the freezer – scallops, shrimp and ono. John always saves all the shells from our lobster and shrimp meals and had made a fish stock that was also in the freezer. While he prepared the seafood, I was in charge of cutting up a massive amount of vegetables. (I love to cut stuff up!)

Onions, fennel, red pepper, fresno chile, leeks and new potatoes

First I sweated the vegetables and then they simmered in the fish stock and a can of petite diced tomatoes. John concocted a bunch of spices and put them in a tea bag to simmer along with vegetables. Towards the end of cooking, he put in the seafood. It cooked for maybe five minutes.

Fish soup simmering on the stove

We served the soup with some sourdough bread that had been rubbed with garlic. The dinner was so good that we took the leftovers and added some more vegetables and shrimp and ate it again on Sunday. (Unfortunately, I OD’d on the bread. I really cannot be trusted around good bread.)

Mediterranean fish soup with sourdough bread