Welcome to A standing reservation! Thanks for reserving your table. If you’ve found your way here via pure luck and haven’t already reserved your standing reservation, pencil yourself in the book and we’ll be sure to serve you up something good:
You said you liked the audio, right?! So, I’m jumping on here to talk you through this week’s recipe. It might seem daunting on paper, but trust me, it’s simple and delicious so you definitely want to try this one!
They say it’s spring…
Well, not here in London. It’s quite cold yet the signs of spring are everywhere. Daffodils popping from the ground, trees in bloom, Cadbury eggs in the grocery stores. But it’s been the wettest March on record for England and Wales in over 40 years. You can’t make this up. My packed bags have been sitting in the living room since winter. We’ve changed an entire season while I wait to begin my job that should have started over 2 months ago. Winter has left and spring is in full swing. It’s safe to say I might have to re-pack my bags a little to shift with the change in season.
While, yes, it’s damp and cold around these parts, we’re coming into Easter weekend which means warmer and sunnier weather should be around the corner. And while most families will be enjoying lamb on Easter, why not try a recipe from the sea. I mean, we are swimming in water over here in England. I came up with this recipe for monkfish stew while walking through my market on a cold and damp afternoon. The monkfish is hearty and holds up well in a soupy seafood broth. Perfect for one of these cold and rainy spring days, my monkfish stew checks all the boxes.
Monkfish stew
There are a few steps to this stew and what looks like a long list of ingredients below so don’t be intimidated. I promise you, this will be the best meal you’ve had all week, heck, all year! This meal cost us a total of £15 (total cost of the fish from the fishmonger - the rest of the ingredients we had in our pantry) - and could have fed 4 people. We ended up using the leftovers to make pasta the next day so, in fact, it did end up feeding 4!
Ingredients
500g Monkfish, ask your fishmonger to take the skin off but leave the fish on the bone
325g prawns, shell on
1kg mussels
400g tin of whole peeled tomatoes in their juice
1 bunch of parsley (chopped leaves for garnish and stalks for stock and aromatics)
1 cup of white wine (dry for cooking or whatever you fancy drinking)
1 piece of peperoncino (or flakes but whole is preferred)
3 cloves of garlic
400ml seafood stock, we’ll make our own in this recipe
1 leek (green top for seafood stock, roughly chopped whites for stew)
1 tbsp whole peppercorns (seafood stock)
1/2 an onion kept whole, whatever knob you might have lying around, can be red, while, yellow (seafood stock)
3 bayleaves (seafood stock)
1 orange peel + a small squeeze of its juice
Extra virgin olive oil
100g fregola (for 2 people - allow 50-100g per person, we went on the lighter side since this dish has so heart of fish)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Wash your mussels under cold water and remove the beards and any mussels that are not shut or have cracked shells. Peel your shrimp and devein if necessary - reserve the heads and shells. To make your seafood stock, in a small pot, add the dark green top of your leek, onion, few parsley stems, peppercorns, bayleaves, shrimp heads and shells. Cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Allow the stock to simmer on medium to low heat for about 25-30 minutes. Skim the foam every once in a while. Once your stock has developed flavor, pass it through a sieve or strainer. Reserve your stock for building the stew.
In a pot, pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and add 3 cloves of garlic, 1 peperoncino, and a few stems of parsley. Bring to a simmer over medium heat to open the flavors and aromatics. Once your olive oil is gently bubbling and the pot is hot, dump your cleaned mussels into the pot. Give them a shake and close the lid. The mussels will begin to open immediately. After about 30 seconds, remove the lid and add about 1 cup of white wine. Return the lid and give the mussels a good shake. Once the mussels have opened, after about 2-3 minutes, remove the mussels from the pot and place in a large bowl. Do not discard the liquid that’s been created. De-shell all the mussels and reserve the meat in a small bowl. Discard the shells and pour the mussel liquid back into your pot. Taste the liquid in order to know where your flavors are heading - we’re constantly building flavors so you want to be sure you know which direction you’re heading in. Is it too salty? Not enough salt? Too spicy? Not enough spice? You can discard your peperoncino at this point or if you feel it needs more spice, leave it in or add another. Keep your cloves of garlic in the liquid or if you’ve lost them along the way, add fresh cloves to start building flavor into the stew.
Add a can of tinned whole tomatoes to your mussel liquid. Rinse the can with your reserved fish stock. Add in about 1 tin full of the reserved fish stock. This might seem like a lot, but you’re going to cook it down to concentrate those flavors. Gently break up the whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon - I like to keep my tomatoes pretty chunky but you take your own liberties. Add your roughly chopped leek (I cut my leek into large chunks as the leeks almost melt away when cooked down). Let this simmer for about 30 minutes, allowing the liquid to slightly evaporate and thicken. Taste along the way to see if you need more salt. As the stew reduces, it will gain more flavor so don’t go heavy on salting in the beginning stages.
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Drop your fregola and cook for the instructed time on the packaging. Strain and put into your bowls. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil (this is a game changer).
After your stew has been simmering and you’re happy with your flavors. Add your orange peel and squeeze of orange juice. Add your monkfish and cook for another 10 minutes. Add your peeled shrimp and cook for another 5-10 minutes. And lastly, add your mussels back into the pot. Remove your orange peel. Your fish and your shrimp should be cooked but be sure to check for doneness - your fish should be opaque and flakey and your shrimp, pink and firm. Ladle your stew into your fregola filled bowls, top with chopped fresh parley and a crack of black pepper and enjoy!
Until next time at a standing reservation…
With love & snacks,
Paige
Like what you’ve read?
If you’ve liked what you’ve read, show some love and feel free to like or leave a comment! Maybe even share with a friend!
Let’s chat!
Have you tried the recipe? Let me know in the comments below or share with me on Instagram. Would love to chat.
Need a happy moment?
Manarola, Italy. May 2021. Gianluca and I went to Cinque Terre for a weekend and stayed in Manarola for a few nights. We had just finished eating dinner in the neighboring village, Riomaggiore, and were waiting for the train to take us back to Manarola when an older couple approached us. The towns were quiet during this time - we were still coming out of Covid and restrictions in restaurants, public spaces, and even curfews were still in place. So with the chill in the night air and the emptiness of the village, we got to chatting. They had been eating in the same restaurant as us and they wanted to know what we thought of the food. They had been coming to Manarola for many years and owned an apartment close by to where we were staying. We chatted until the train came, walked home together, and parted ways. The next day we bumped into each other in town. Delighted to see us, they invited us over to their home for aperitivo. We kindly accepted (how could we not). Later that evening with a bottle of wine in tow, we arrived at their picturesque home. Snacks of grissini, salami, and fava were set out and we toasted to our meet-cute encounter. They invited us into their home where large canvas’ of art hung in the massive foyer. “These paintings look like a famous Italian painter’s work, I’m sure of it,” Gianluca whispered to me. He was right about that. And the rest makes for a, much longer, funny story.
I love hearing your voice…it feels like you are closer🥰