Lampuca Sicilian Fish Stew Recipes

SICILIAN-STYLE FISH STEW RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in 5-quart Dutch oven (like this one) over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and a little salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp each). Cook, stirring regularly, until softened (about 4 minutes). Add thyme, red pepper flakes and garlic and cook briefly until fragrant (about 30 more seconds).
• Now, stir in the white wine and reserved tomato juice from can. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the liquid is reduced by about 1/2. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, raisins, and capers. Cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat until flavors combine.
• Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Insert the fish pieces into the cooking liquid, and give everything a gentle stir so that the fish pieces are nicely covered in the cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and cover. Let sit off heat for another 4-5 minutes so that the fish will finish cooking. Fish should be flaky when gently pulled apart with a paring knife. Finally, stir in the chopped parsley.
• Ladle the hot fish stew into serving bowls, top each with a few toasted pine nuts, if you like. Serve with your favorite crusty bread! Enjoy!

PORTUGUESE FISH STEW

Steps:

• Trim and clean the fish, and salt lightly. Set aside. Pour the olive oil into a large flameproof casserole (preferably earthenware, although this is not essential). Heat, then add the onions and brown. Add the garlic, parsley, chilies and bay leaves, then add the tomatoes and vinegar. Stew for a while, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the ingredients to burn and stick. Pour over a little water and add the peppercorns, piri piri sauce, salt, and nutmeg, to taste. Bring to the boil.
• Meanwhile, rinse the fish to remove the excess salt but do not skin or bone. Cut fish into slices (except the sardines, which should be left whole, but decapitated). Add the fish to the stew in layers, with the tougher fish at the bottom. Layer the strips of green pepper between each layer of fish. Put the sardines on the top so that they don't break up.
• Spread the butter over the bread. Place the bread over the top of the sardines, buttered side down. Cover and cook over a low heat, shaking the casserole from time to time to prevent sticking; do not uncover. When the contents begin to boil, and the liquid has soaked and covered the bread completely, the dish is ready to serve. Place a slice of bread and a sardine on each plate and ladle over the rest of the stew.

THIEBOU DIENN SOUS VERRE (SENEGALESE RICE AND FISH STEW)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large stockpot and brown the onion. Add the smoked fish, the tomato paste, and 1/4 cup of the salted water. While the onion mixture is browning, prepare the stuffing for the sea bass steaks by placing the parsley, garlic, chile, and scallions in a food processor and pulsing until they form a thick paste. When the paste is ready, score the sea bass steaks and poke the stuffing into the slits.
• Place the sea bass in the stockpot with the onion mixture, allow it to cook for 5 minutes, and add the remaining water. When the fish mixture comes to a boil, cover the pot, lower the heat, and add the vegetables in the order given, finishing off with the pricked habanero chile, which you will remove (and reserve) when the thiebou dienn is spicy enough for you. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove the sea bass steaks keeping them whole, and place them on a serving platter. Cover them with a bit of the cooking liquid, and keep them warm.
• Continue cooking the thiebou dienn for an additionaly 15 minutes, then remove the vegetables and arrange them on a platter and keep them warm. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid to make the sauces. Return the remaining liquid to a boil, add the rice, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is done.
• While the rice is cooking, pulverize the habanero chile that you have reserved and add it to 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid. Heat it, stirring occasionally, and place it in a sauceboat. Heat the remaining cup of reserved cooking liquid and place it in a separate sauceboat. This will give you a regular sauce and a fiery hot one.
• When ready to serve, mound the rice on one platter and the fish and vegetables on another. Alternatively, you can place the rice in a large basin or deep dish and arrange the vegetables and fish on top and eat Senegalese-style with your hands (right hand only, please!) or with a large spoon.

MEDITERRANEAN FISH STEW WITH GARLIC TOASTS

Steps:

• To make the garlic toasts, drizzle the bread with oil, then griddle or grill until golden all over. While the toasts are still hot, rub them with garlic and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wide, deep frying pan. Add the onion and cook over a gentle heat for 5 mins until softened. Stir through the garlic and chilli and cook a couple of mins more. Add the tomato purée and tomatoes. Turn up the heat and cook for 10-15 mins, stirring until the tomatoes are pulpy. Pour over the wine and cook for 10 mins more until most of it has boiled away.
• Add the fish stock and orange zest and heat until gently simmering. Nestle the halibut chunks into the liquid and cook for 5 mins. Add the clams and prawns and cook for 5 mins more until the fish is cooked through and the clams have opened (discard any that haven't). Sprinkle the parsley over the stew and serve with the garlic toasts.

SICILIAN SEAFOOD STEW

Steps:

• In a large pot, over high heat, saute onion in the olive oil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add in the celery and red and green bell peppers; stir and saute for 2 minutes.
• Add in the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, and marjoram; stir to mix.
• Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add in the clam juice, tomatoes, and wine.
• Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add the scallops and shrimp; cook and stir for about 4 minutes or until the scallops are no longer opaque and the shrimp are pink.
• Add in the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste; stir to combine.
• Ladle stew into individual serving bowls.
• Sprinkle capers and chopped black olives on top, if desired.