Caldillo de Congrio

Ingredients

• 4 conger eel steaks, about 250 g each (or thick cod or monkfish steaks)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 750 ml fish stock
• 8 raw prawns, shell on
• 100 ml double cream
• 3 tbsp chopped coriander
• 1.5 tsp salt
• Black pepper

Before you cook

• Season the fish steaks with salt and leave them at room temperature
• Slice the onions into thin half moons
• Finely chop the garlic
• Peel the tomatoes and chop them roughly
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1 cm slices
• Peel the carrot and cut it into thin rounds

Steps

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide clay pot or heavy casserole over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, until it collapses and turns translucent.
3. Stir in the garlic and the paprika and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, until they break down into a loose sauce.
5. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble hard for 3 minutes to drive off the alcohol.
6. Add the fish stock, the bay leaf and the carrot, and bring the pot to a simmer.
7. Lay the potato slices in the broth and simmer for 12 minutes, until they are almost tender.
8. Season the broth with the salt and pepper and taste it; it should already be worth eating on its own.
9. Lower the fish steaks into the pot in a single layer, spooning broth over them.
10. Simmer very gently for 8 minutes, without letting the liquid boil.
11. Tuck in the prawns and cook for 3 minutes more, until they turn pink and curl.
12. Turn off the heat and let the pot settle for 2 minutes.
13. Pour the cream over the surface and scatter the coriander across the top.
14. Serve straight from the pot, giving each bowl a fish steak, two prawns and plenty of broth.