Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large knobs of butter
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3–4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
- pared zest of ½ lemon
- 75ml (2½fl oz) pastis or ouzo
- 1 x 400g (14 oz) can of good-quality chopped tomatoes
- 2 fresh white fish frames (skeletons), heads on
- a pinch of saffron strands
- 200g (7 oz) white fish trimmings, which can include the skin and pieces of raw fish
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Set a pan over a medium heat and add the extra-virgin olive oil and half the butter. When it’s bubbling away, add the onions and fennel bulb, along with the garlic, bay leaf, fennel seeds, thyme leaves, lemon zest and a little salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables for 10–15 minutes. Don’t let them colour too much. Pour in the pastis or ouzo and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Add the tomatoes and the fish frames (break them in half if you can’t fit them into the pan), then add enough water to cover the fish – about 1.5 litres (52fl oz) should do it. Add the saffron and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Cook gently for 30 minutes, then add the fish trimmings and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and, using a pair of tongs or a large flat slotted spoon, lift the fish frames out of the pan and onto a plate. It’s fairly likely they will break up as you do this. Don’t worry, just fish around (no pun intended) for any obvious bones, heads and so on. When these pieces are cool enough to handle, pick off any larger bits of fish and pop them back in the pan. Remove the pared lemon zest then ladle the contents of the pan into a blender and carefully whizz the soup up to a fairly smooth consistency (you’ll want to do this in a couple of batches). You might hear the sound of bones hitting the blade as it spins; they won’t do any damage – in fact, a good blender will probably break these up, too. When the soup is nice and smooth, pass it through a sieve (strainer) into a clean pan. You may need to encourage the soup through the sieve using the back of a ladle. Discard any coarse bits and bobs that don’t make it through.
Warm up the soup and stir in the remaining butter until it’s melted. Season with plenty of salt and pepper – the salt will bring out all its flavour. Serve then and there, or pour it into a container, cool and refrigerate to reheat for later.
