Food - All-in-one seafood stew
An autumn dish to warm the cockles of your heart. | By Adie McClelland
By Adie McClelland
The all-in-one dish is a very Mediterranean thing. Spain is famous for its paella, Italy for lasagne, France has cassoulet and coq au vin, and Greece has generations of wonderful, simple one-pot wonders, all which go straight from the oven to the table. With autumn now upon us, I want slightly warmer and heartier ways to eat fish and seafood; something with a little more body.
This rustic-style stew is just that – it’s easy to make but it’s got plenty of substance as well, with strong gutsy flavours. And as the risoni pasta swells and cooks in the stew, it takes on all the flavours, which is really nice. Don’t be tempted to add too much risoni; you don’t want the dish to become too dense.
This is a really versatile dish. You can make it with any seafood or fish available –grouper, swordfish or just mussels.
Mussels can be a bit of a bore to debeard sometimes, but I find what makes this task slightly less tiresome is to empty them into a sink full of fresh water, let them sit for 10 minutes or so, then debeard them while still underwater. I give the mussels a steam until they just open before I pop them in the oven with the rest of the ingredients. Alternatively, you can steam them for the full 10 minutes and add them to the stew after everything else is cooked. The mussels will heat through beautifully this way.
You can cook the stew completely on the stove, or finish it off in the oven. It is ideal for when you have people over for dinner, but you want to spend more time at the table talking with mates than you do in the kitchen. You can make it for two people just as easily as you can for 10 – just put a big pot of it in the middle of the table.
I serve it with a dollop of aioli, toasted sourdough and a sprinkling of fresh rosemary leaves. It can be reheated gently, being careful not to overcook the delicious poached fish and seafood.
Ingredients
400g grouper fillet or a swordfish steak, cut into chunks
560g (8) mussels; scrubbed, debearded and steamed for 5-8 minutes
8 Prawns
230g (1) squid, cleaned and sliced lengthways (not into rings)
15 large ripe tomatoes; peeled, seeded and chopped
60g risoni (orzo) pasta
6 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
260ml white wine
260ml chicken stock
1 good tbsp passata
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, plus extra for garnish
Aioli to serve (optional)
Toasted sourdough
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.
2. Heat oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add garlic, chilli and rosemary. Cook for a further minute.
3. Add the tomatoes and passata, cooking to soften and release the juices. Add wine and stock, simmer for 10 minutes, then add pasta and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and freshly-ground pepper.
4. Add the seafood, push everything you can under the liquid, cover and place in the oven for 6-8 minutes.
5. Garnish with rosemary leaves and serve with a dollop of aioli and toasted sourdough on the side.
Serves 4