Brodetto

Mixed fish stewed with vinegar, each kind added in its own time so none of it overcooks.

Fish, Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains fish, shellfish.

Ingredients

• 400 g firm fish such as monkfish or gurnard, in chunks
• 400 g flaky fish such as red mullet or bream, in chunks
• 300 g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
• 300 g mussels and clams, scrubbed
• 200 g raw prawns
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 400 g tinned plum tomatoes, crushed
• 300 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. Cook the onion in the oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for a minute.
2. Pour the vinegar in and let it boil away almost completely. THE VINEGAR IS WHAT MAKES THIS A BRODETTO and not any other fish stew — it goes in before the tomato and is reduced, so what is left is the sharpness without the smell.
3. Add the tomatoes, water and salt, and simmer 15 minutes.
4. Now add the fish IN ORDER OF FIRMNESS. Squid first, since it needs 15 minutes and goes rubbery between two and twelve.
5. After 10 minutes add the firm fish. After another 4, the flaky fish and the prawns. Last of all the mussels and clams, which take 3 minutes and are ready the moment they open.
6. DO NOT STIR ONCE THE FISH IS IN. Shake the pan if you must. A spoon through this turns six kinds of fish into one kind of soup.
7. Scatter the parsley over and serve from the pan, with bread alongside rather than underneath.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes