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This Bouillabaisse Recipe Tastes Like a $40 French Dish

Most people get making French seafood soup at home completely wrong. They assume a dish this spectacular requires a culinary degree and hours of endless labor. But this simple Bouillabaisse Recipe yields an incredibly rich, aromatic broth that will make your dining room feel like a coastal bistro. Here’s the part people love most: the intoxicating scent of saffron and orange rind filling the air. It truly tastes like a $40 restaurant dish, yet it comes together beautifully right on your stove.
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Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 380 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients
  • 1.3 –1.6kg / 3–3 1/2lb mixed fish and shellfish such as red mullet, John Dory, monkfish, large prawns (shrimp) and clams
  • 1.2 litres / 2 pints / 5 cups water
  • 225 g / 8oz tomatoes
  • pinch of saffron threads
  • 90 ml / 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 leek sliced
  • 1 celery stick sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed
  • bouquet garni
  • 1 strip pared orange rind
  • 2.5 ml / 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 15 ml / 1 tbsp tomato purée paste
  • 10 ml / 2 tsp Pernod
  • 4 –6 thick slices French bread
  • 45 ml / 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Instructions
  • Remove the heads, tails and fins from the fish and put in a large pan, with the water. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, and reserve the liquid. Cut the fish into large chunks. Leave the shellfish in their shells.
  • Scald the tomatoes, then drain and refresh in cold water. Peel and chop them. Soak the saffron in 15–30ml / 1–2 tbsp hot water. Heat the oil in the cleaned pan, add the onion, leek and celery and cook until softened. Add the garlic, bouquet garni, orange rind, fennel seeds and tomatoes, then stir in the saffron and liquid and the fish stock. Season with salt and pepper, then bring to the boil and simmer for 30–40 minutes.
  • Add the shellfish and boil for 6 minutes. Discard any clams that remain closed. Add the fish and cook for a further 6–8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fish to a warmed serving platter. Keep the liquid boiling and add the tomato purée and Pernod, then check the seasoning.
  • Place a slice of bread in each soup bowl, pour the broth over and serve the fish separately, sprinkled with the parsley.

Notes

Do not let the seafood boil upon reheating, or it will become tough and rubbery.