Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron

Otherwise known as Romesco de peix. We cooked this from a recipe in the Moro cookbook. Onions, thinly sliced red peppers and garlic, cooked down together. The aroma of these ingredients cooking together is delicious and comforting in a savoury but distinctly unFrench style. Added bay, rosemary, paprika, saffron, tomatoes, white wine and finally ground, roasted almonds. Let that cook down for a bit before adding fish pieces (we used sea bass; can’t remember what the recipe recommended) and prawns (the recipe recommended clams but we couldn’t get any at the last minute) and letting it cook with the lid on for a few minutes until the fish and prawns were done. Served it with simple boiled rice.

Really tasty and comforting on a rainy, grey day that should be spring but is really not making much of an effort in that department. Eating prawns this way with the shells on can be really messy though, but the shells do give a lovely flavour. Next time we’ll try some sort of compromise. Or maybe use clams (which have convenient handles) instead and serve prawns as a starter if we feel compelled to have them.

F