Cooking time:

15 minutes

Preparation time:

5 minutes

Makes:

4 servings

 
Andreas Trauttmansdorff

Ingredients

• 2 (340 mL) cans vegetable cocktail juice, about 2-3/4 cups (675 mL)
• 10 oz (284 mL) can undiluted chicken broth
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh or frozen chopped onion
• 6  baby potatoes
• 2  tomatoes, chopped
• 2 lbs (1 kg) fresh mussels
• 1/2 lb (250 g) fresh or frozen cod, catfish or tilapia
• 2  celery stalks
• 1 cup (250 mL) frozen peas
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) pesto, homemade or store-bought
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) finely grated orange peel (optional)

Pesto and tomatoes are a classic match. A few spoonfuls swirled into our brothy tomato-based stew taste heavenly.

Instructions

• Pour juice and broth into a large wide saucepan. Stir in onion. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, slice unpeeled potatoes into quarters, then add to broth with tomatoes. When mixture boils, reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer, stirring often, until potatoes are fork-tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, scrub mussels and remove beards. Discard any open mussels. Cut fish into chunky pieces. Chop celery. Measure out peas.
• When potatoes are tender, stir in mussels, fish, celery and peas. Increase heat to medium-high. Cover and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until mussels open, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Discard any mussels that haven’t opened. Stir in pesto and orange peel. Ladle into bowls and dollop or swirl with more pesto, if you wish. Great with chunks of sourdough bread. for dunking.

Best Pesto

Lemon Pesto

Shopping Tip

If you don’t have homemade pesto, your supermarket will likely have jars or pouches near the pasta sauce or in the deli. Some jars of pesto have a “seaweed” taste, so always taste before using.

Nutrition (per Serving)

protein

27.6 g

fat

11.4 g

carbohydrates

30 g

fibre

4.8 g

iron

5.2 mg

calcium

126 mg

sodium

1508 mg

calories

324