Delicious and homemade fish soup with striped bass, red bell pepper and potatoes.
Fish soup isn’t something I make on a regular basis. But because my really excellent fishing adventure just after Labor Day gifted me with about 5 lbs. of gorgeous striped bass (vacuum sealed and in the freezer), and because Significant Eater (for some reason?) decided that she wanted fish soup, out came the 4 quart saucepan the other night.
Oh yeah, I’ve made different variations of fish soup in the past. Once, I made an outstanding Cioppino, even making a fish/crab stock for the base; the house smelled like fish for about a week after that. I’ve made clam chowder – both cream and tomato based. I’ve even made Bouillabaisse, and boy is that ever a lot of work…just spelling it is a pain in the ass.
Anyway, this fish soup was gonna be easy – I only wanted to use stuff I had in the pantry and or fridge.
PrintFish Soup
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
A quick and easy fish soup.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. striped bass (you can sub any other firm, white-fleshed fish), in chunks
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 whole red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery (and leaves, if you have them), chopped
- 1 lb. potatoes, cut into 2” chunks
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. pimenton – bittersweet or hot, your call
- 1/8 tsp. saffron, toasted lightly
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 28 oz. can tomatoes (seeded), otherwise use all
- 1 cup chicken stock or canned broth
- 1 cup water
- parsley, minced (use stems, thyme, bay leaf to make bouquet garni)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Sweat the first 5 ingredients.
- Bring stock to simmer and add saffron to infuse. Oh yeah, if you don’t have saffron, don’t worry – do you have any Old Bay?
- When vegetables are translucent, add pimenton and stir. Add wine and cook it off. Add tomatoes, broth, water, bouquet garni, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer; let simmer for 30 minutes. Season it to taste.
- Add fish – cook till done – maybe 5 minutes, maybe 8 or 10. Remember, fish is going to keep cooking after you turn off the heat, so better to undercook slightly. Remove bouquet garni, add parsley, stir, TASTE and serve.
- Category: Main Course Soup
- Cuisine: American
