Spanish Fish Stew

Sorry to everyone who reads this blog, as there were no new posts for a few weeks? The reason behind this is due to the fact that I was unwell. I managed to catch Swine Flu from someone in my work and it basically floored me for over a week. But I am back at work now and feeling much better.


I have been trying to think of some good recipes to add to the blog, but can never think of any, then it comes to me usually when I have to make dinner and open the fridge to see what we have, and that’s how this dish came about. It was a Thu night and we do not do our shopping until a Friday, so the cupboard was a little Mother Hubbard. We had some frozen fish and that got me thinking about a dish my wife and I had in Spain.

Spanish Fish Stew

Ingredients
500g of mixed fish. (Best to use a mix of smoked fish, white fish prawns and some shell fish; to be honest any fish will work with this)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 cloves of Garlic crushed or finely chopped
2 heaped teaspoons of Smoked Paprika
A good handful of chopped basil and parsley
A little corn flour mixed with water to thicken the sauce.
2 table spoons of lemon juice
½ a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

Method: -
1 – Take the garlic, tins of tomatoes and add to large saucepan or cast iron casserole dish, and heat over a medium heat until the tomatoes are simmering.

2 – Add the chopped basil and parsley, and reduce to half

3 – Add the paprika lemon juice and Tabasco sauce.

4 – Turn down the heat to low and add the fish, and the corn flour if required.

5 – Let the fish cook for about 10 mins on low or until the fish is cooked, and try not to stir the dish as this will break up all the fish.

6 – Now serve in a bowl with some crusty bread.

This is a great winter meal as it is warming and the taste is really great with the smoked paprika. Simple but yet so delicious.

Baked Cod (Can be made with any white fish)

This is an easy and quick dish that can be made with nearly any white fish. I prefer to use cod as it is meatier, but anything can be used. I have made this dish using a number of variations such as missing out the pesto and even replacing the pesto for a ricota and spinich mix.


What you need: -
2 fillets of Cod, or any white fish
6 slices of parma ham, pancetta or any thinly sliced continental ham
green or red pesto - dependent on your tastes.


Method: -

1 - Place two slices of the ham side by side and spread pesto on the ham.

2 - Place the Cod fillet onto the ham and spread pesto on top of the fish.

3 - Roll up the ham to encase the fish.

4 - Use one more slice of ham to cover the top of the fish.

5 - Place the fish on a baking tray and bake in the oven at Gas Mark 5, 375°F, 191° deg C for about twenty mins or until the ham starts to crispen up

6 - Remove and serve with some roast veg.



The idea is to wrap the fish up into little parcels using the ham as the wrapping paper if you like. The pesto then cooks into the fish and gives it a fantastic flavour, and also keeps the fish moist and seals in the flavours.