Cooking time 1 hour

Serves 4

Ingredients

20g dried porcini mushrooms

500g sea bass fillets
200g monkfish fillets
200g John Dory fillets
1 cooked lobster, about 500g
300g fresh clams (palourde)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
2 small carrots, finely chopped
1 large fennel bulb, finely chopped
Garlic cloves, 2 sliced and a quarter of a clove finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes or 700ml tomato passata
500ml fresh fish stock
200g potatoes, peeled
A pinch of saffron threads
100ml white wine
Leaves from a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Method

Once you have prepared the fish stew base, the rest is easy. Just make sure the
base (the tomato-fish broth) is not too thick, otherwise the fish will cook
unevenly. The lobster is essential because of the flavour it adds.

Put the porcini to soak in 100ml of hot water until softened; drain the mushrooms
(reserve the soaking liquid) and roughly chop.

While the porcini are soaking, prepare the seafood. Cut all the fish fillets into
3cm pieces. Remove the head from the lobster and pull off the claws; crack the
claws. Cut the tail lengthways in half and then across in half. Put the clams in a
colander and rinse thoroughly under cold running water, shaking vigorously; discard
any clams that remain open. Set the seafood aside in a cool place.

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pan and cook the onion, celery,
carrots and fennel bulb with the sliced garlic and fennel seeds until softened. Add
the chopped porcini with their soaking liquid (leave any sediment behind in the
bowl) and the tomatoes or passata. Cook for about 20 minutes to reduce by half,
stirring occasionally. Add the fish stock and cook for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into thumb-sized pieces. Put them in a pan of salted
water with the saffron and bring to the boil; drain and reserve.

Remove the tomato-fish broth from the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Purée in the pan with a stick blender (or blitz in a food processor). Keep hot.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large, shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid. Add
the fish and clams along with the white wine. Cover and cook for one minute. Jiggle
the pan to help open the clams (if any are not open after one minute, throw them
away). Add the smooth tomato-fish broth and saffron potatoes. Cover with the lid
again and bring to the boil, then add the quartered lobster tail and claws. Simmer
for a few minutes.

Mix together the parsley and finely chopped garlic. Stir into the stew and heat,
covered, for one minute. Serve in large bowls.