Dalmatinski Brudet

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg mixed whole white fish, such as scorpion fish, gurnard, monkfish tail and conger eel
• 300 g squid or cuttlefish, cleaned
• 8 raw langoustines or large prawns
• 3 onions
• 5 garlic cloves
• 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 250 g coarse polenta
• 1 litre water, for the polenta
• 1 tsp salt, for the polenta
• 30 g butter

Before you cook

• Ask the fishmonger to gut and scale the fish, then cut the larger ones into thick steaks on the bone and leave small ones whole.
• Rinse all the fish under cold water and pat it dry.
• Cut the squid bodies into thick rings and halve the tentacles.
• Peel the onions and slice them thinly.
• Peel and finely chop the garlic.
• Chop the parsley leaves and keep the stalks separate.
• Season the fish pieces all over with half the salt.

Steps

1. Pour the olive oil into a wide, shallow pan and set it over medium heat.
2. Add the sliced onions and cook for 12 minutes, stirring often, until soft and pale gold.
3. Stir in the garlic and the parsley stalks and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
4. Add the squid and cook for 5 minutes so it firms up and releases its liquid.
5. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes until it darkens.
6. Pour in the vinegar and let it bubble away for 1 minute.
7. Add the wine and boil hard for 2 minutes.
8. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and the bay leaves.
9. Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes, until it thickens and the oil separates at the edges.
10. Lay the firmest fish pieces into the sauce in a single layer and spoon sauce over them.
11. Cook without stirring for 8 minutes, shaking the pan by the handle now and then.
12. Tuck the delicate fish and the langoustines in among the rest.
13. Cook for another 7 minutes, shaking the pan rather than stirring, until the fish flakes at the bone.
14. Season with the remaining salt and the pepper, then take the pan off the heat.
15. Bring the litre of water to the boil in a heavy pot with the teaspoon of salt.
16. Pour in the polenta in a thin stream, whisking hard to stop lumps forming.
17. Cook the polenta over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every few minutes.
18. Beat the butter into the polenta until it is glossy and loose enough to spoon.
19. Spread the polenta across warm plates and spoon the brudet on top.
20. Scatter the chopped parsley over and serve immediately.