Suquet de Peix

Ingredients

• 600 g monkfish tail, cut into thick medallions
• 300 g raw prawns, shell on
• 300 g clams, purged in salted water
• 800 g waxy potatoes
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, halved and grated
• 1 dried nyora pepper, or 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 5 garlic cloves
• 40 g blanched almonds
• 1 slice stale bread
• Generous pinch of saffron threads
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 800 ml fish stock
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Soak the nyora in hot water for 20 minutes, then scrape out the flesh and discard the skin and seeds.
• Peel the potatoes, then push a knife a third of the way into each one and snap off a chunk so the break is ragged.
• Season the monkfish medallions with salt on both sides.
• Grate the tomato halves on a box grater and discard the skins.

Steps

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide casserole over medium heat.
2. Fry the almonds, bread slice and two garlic cloves for 3 minutes until golden, then lift them out.
3. Pound the fried almonds, bread and garlic with the saffron and parsley in a mortar until you have a coarse paste, and set the picada aside.
4. Add the remaining oil to the casserole and cook the onion for 8 minutes until soft.
5. Chop the remaining garlic, stir it in with the nyora flesh and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add the grated tomato and cook for 8 minutes, until it darkens and no longer smells raw.
7. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes.
8. Add the cracked potatoes and turn them through the sofrito.
9. Pour over the fish stock, season with salt and bring to a simmer.
10. Cook for 18 minutes, until a knife slides into a potato with no resistance.
11. Loosen the picada with a ladle of the hot broth and stir it back into the pot.
12. Lay the monkfish medallions in the broth and simmer for 4 minutes.
13. Add the prawns and clams, cover, and cook for 4 minutes until every clam has opened.
14. Taste the broth and adjust the salt.
15. Rest the pot off the heat for 5 minutes, then serve straight from the casserole.