Bouillabaisse

I wanted to make something festive for Easter (yeah, I know, it was ages ago now!), and I recalled my sis’s amazing Cioppino she made in Calgary like, a LONG time ago, but I needed to use up some fish stock, and her recipe didn’t utilize any, so I ‘made do’ with the Good Times gals recipe below – outstanding! Cioppino, see ya soon …

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ cups well rinsed coarsely chopped leeks
1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
1 can tomato purée
1 large can chopped tomatoes (organic)
2 tbsp dried thyme
½ cup chopped Italian parsley (plus more for garnish)
2 bay leaves
2 cups dry white wine
4 cups Fish Stock
S & P, to taste
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ tsp whole saffron
2 quarts fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded
48 Cherrystone clams, scrubbed (unfortunately, I couldn’t find any!)
3 pounds skinless firm white fish steaks, such as bass, snapper, and cod, cut into large cubes
1 lb colossal prawns
4 small lobster tails, shelled and halved crosswise

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the leeks and onions and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender and lightly colored, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, wine, fish stock, and salt and pepper. Simmer to blend the flavors, 20 mins.

Blend the butter and flour together in a bowl and then whisk the mixture into the tomato mixture.

Add the saffron and the mussels and clams in their shells and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the fish, shrimp, and lobster tails and simmer until all the shellfish are opened and the fish is done, another 5 mins. Do not overcook.

Ladle into hot soup plates, discarding any mussels or clams that have not opened. Garnish with a bunch of chopped parsley.