Provencal Bouillabasse Soup with Toasted Baguette

and Traditional French Rouille Sauce

Serves 4

Preparation: 15 mins or longer if cleaning a bag of fresh mussels

Cooking Time: 45 mins

I first made this soup or fish stew back in 2015.   Following numerous holidays to the South of France,

I then discovered that there were certain ingredients that make this dish especially authentic and the

accompaniment of a French traditional Rouille sauce on toasted baguette slices

elevate this incredible dish to dizzying heights!

I made this with a de-frosted packs of mixed seafood and King Prawns plus four Hake fillets (frozen).   You can also buy vacuum packed Mussels in white wine in the chilled section of the Fish counter at most supermarkets.   This is really easier than coping with totally fresh mussels, which need to be cleaned etc.

When you taste this soup, you will immediately be able to imagine yourselves sitting in chic French bistro or maybe somewhere in a little restaurant near the sea front - this is somewhere between Soupe de Poissons and Bouillabasse!

Ingredients

For the French rouille sauce

• 1tsp saffron strands soaked in 1tsp of hot water
  
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  
• 2 egg yolks
  
• 1 handful of bread from a white baguette, but no crust (or 2/3 slices white bread, crusts removed)
  
• 300ml (½pt) olive oil
• Pinch of chilli or Cayenne
  
• Salt and black pepper

For the soup

• 4 x tablespoons olive oil
  
• 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (or very ripe, fresh tomatoes - even better if you can source them from your greenhouse - it is all about the flavour)
  
• 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
  
• one  Spanish onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 x  sticks celery, finely chopped
  
• 4 x garlic cloves, finely chopped
  
• 1ltr (1¾pt) fresh fish stock
• Rind and juice of half an orange
• Quarter of a cup of Pernod (optional, but should be included if going for a traditional Bouillabasse)
• 12 mussels, cleaned (you can also buy vacuum packed, ready cleaned mussels in the chilled sections at supermarkets) - for eight people, we bought a bag of 92 fresh mussels from Sainsbury's! and steamed them separately)
  
• 500g (1lb 2oz) skinless cod fillets, cut into large pieces (or use hake, haddock)
  
• 300g (10½oz) raw tiger prawns, peeled, with tails left on (or you can use frozen ones)
• 300g squid rings, cut these into small pieces with scissors
  
  

To Serve

• 1 baguette, sliced into thin rounds and gently baked in the oven
• French Rouille sauce (ingredients given above)

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO....

1. To make the rouille sauce, place the saffron mixture in the small bowl with two tablespoons of boiling water and allow to dissolve.   Add the saffron mixture to a food processor along with the garlic and egg yolks. 
   
   
2. Blend until smooth, then add the bread crumbs and blend until combined. With the motor still running, add the oil a little at a time until you have a thick consistency, similar to mayonnaise. Season, cover and chill until needed.
   
   
3. For the soup, heat the olive oil in a pan big enough to hold all the fish and seafood and gently cook the onion, fennel and garlic for about ten minutes or until transparent and softened.  Then add tomatoes and and cook for 6-8 minutes or until softened. 
   
   
4. Pour in the stock, together with the orange zest and juice plus Pernot, if using.
   
   
5. Add the cod, squid and prawns, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes until the cod is just cooked through and the prawns have turned pink.
   
   
6. Bring to the boil, then add the mussels and cook for 10-12 minutes until they have opened and the soup thickened slightly (remove any unopened mussels at this stage, as they won’t be edible).   PLEASE NOTE:  If using fresh mussels. these can take time to clean and I advise steaming these separately for about 10 minutes or according to instructions given with the product.    Add these to the dish last.
   
   
7. Add a splash of olive oil to a pan and fry the baguette slices for 1-2 minutes until golden.  Alternatively, spray with olive oil and lay pieces on a baking dish and bake in the oven for roughly ten minutes - or until lightly golden.
   
   
8. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
   
   
9. Season the soup, then serve in bowls with the croutons and the bowl of rouille sauce.
   
   
10. NOTE: The rouille sauce contains raw egg and is unsuitable for pregnant women.