GLUTEN-FREE CREAMY SEAFOOD SOUP
We wouldn’t be the first to notice the happy pairing of seafood with fennel or dill. So while this week’s Creamy Seafood Soup is certainly not a new idea, it is still a good one, particularly when it comes to you in a delicate creamy broth.
For convenience you can vary the mix of seafood according to what you have on hand. And you can make the soup base in advance if it suits, which means you can have the finished dish ready with a minimum of fuss.
Add that up and it’s a whole plateful of delights.
Jan
CREAMY SEAFOOD SOUP
Serves 10 as an Entrée or 6 as a Main
50 gm unsalted butter
1½ large brown onions, halved and finely sliced
3 celery stalks, finely sliced
1 large fennel bulb, finely sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced with a good pinch of salt flakes
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
250 ml dry white wine
750 ml chicken stock
200 ml double cream
300 ml pure cream
300 gm skinless firm white fish fillets cut into 3cm pieces
Sea salt and pepper
1 kg mixed seafood such as de-headed and deveined prawns, trimmed and sliced calamari, mussels and pipis removed from their shells, pieces of tuna or trout cut into 3cm pieces
½ small bunch dill, fronds removed from stems
Melt the butter over a medium heat in a large heavy-based pan.
When it’s foaming toss in the onion, celery, fennel, garlic, chilli flakes, fennel seeds, bay leaf and black pepper and mix well.
Cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the white wine and simmer for a few minutes until reduced by half.
Then add the stock and continue simmering for 20 minutes.
Then stir both thick and thin creams through the soup base and cook, stirring again for a further 5 minutes.
(The soup can be prepared ahead up to this point and refrigerated for a day or two to allow the flavours to develop. Bring it back to the boil before continuing.)
Season the white fish pieces with salt and pepper and stir them into the simmering soup base. Once the fish is just opaque add the seafood and a handful of dill and mix well.
Continue to cook, stirring for a further 5-7 minutes or until the prawns are pink but not firm. Check the seasoning is to your liking.
Divide the soup between the bowls and garnish with extra dill.