Saffron and Espelette pepper fish stew with gurnard, prawns and scallops

This recipe was originally written for Town & Country Uk.

A deeply flavourful and comforting dish perfect with just the right amount of heat. Espelette is a type of pepper grown in the French commune of Espelette in the Pyrénées. Often used in Provencal cooking I love its zippy almost zesty eat. You can find it in most supermarkets and certainly online but if you find yourself short of it feel free to use dried chilli flakes. Any firm white fish is suitable for this stew but I love to use gurnard. Ask your fishmonger to scale and fillet it but keep the skin on as it is incredibly tasty. Enjoy this with a good loaf of sourdough or hot toast.

| This recipe serves 2 (increase as necessary) |

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 fennel bulb, finely sliced

• 1 red pepper, finely sliced

• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

• A good pinch of saffron

• 1 tsp Espelette pepper (or dried chilli flakes)

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• 1 large bay leaf

• 1 glass dry white wine (about 100ml)

• 200ml fish stock

• 1 can 400g chopped tomatoes

• 150g filleted gurnard (or any firm white fish)

• 6 prawns (shelled and deveined)

• 4 scallops

• Small bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped

• 1 lemon, zested

• Salt and pepper to season

Method

• In a large heavy based, deep pan heat the olive oil. Fry the fennel and pepper for about ten minutes until soft. Let it catch every so often but don’t let it burn.

• Add the garlic, saffron, Espelette pepper, tomato puree and bay leaf and cook for about a minute stirring to combine.

• Pour in the wine and let it cook off and reduce a little (2-3 minutes).

• Pour in the fish stock and chopped tomatoes. Stir and bring to the boil before reducing the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 minutes stirring every so often. It should thicken slightly.

• Whilst the stew base cooks prepare your fish making sure to devein the prawns. Chop the gurnard or white fish into roughly inch size pieces and season lightly with salt and pepper.

• Check stew base for seasoning and season to taste. I usually add a good dose of black pepper at this point.

• Add the chopped gurnard or white fish to the stew first and stir to coat. Then add the prawns and scallops. Cover with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes.

• Divide into bowls. Top with the chopped parsley and lemon zest, Serve with hot toast and lemon wedges.