Sumptuous seafood ragout recipe

Sumptuous seafood ragout

PREP TIME

20 min

TOTAL TIME

40 min

Makes

6 servings

Andreas Trauttmansdorff

Easy one-bowl dinners don't get more elegant than this! Our golden shimmery broth loaded with fresh fish and seafood is as flavourful, decadent and delicious as it looks.

Ingredients

1 onion
1 tbsp butter
4 garlic cloves , minced
4 large plum tomato
1 orange
284-mL can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cup vermouth , or 3 tbsp pernod (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1 kg fresh mussels
500 g halibut fillets , fresh or frozen (substitute monkfish if desired)
500 g uncooked shrimp , peeled, fresh or frozen
3 green onions , sliced (substitute 1/3 cup chopped dill, if desired)

Instructions

Finely chop onion. Melt butter in a large wide saucepan set over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Stir frequently until onion starts to soften, about 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, coarsely chop tomatoes. Finely grate peel from half an orange. Add tomatoes (including juice and seeds), orange peel, undiluted chicken broth, wine, vermouth, dillweed and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Cover and gently boil, stirring occasionally, to develop flavour, about 10 minutes.
While broth is cooking, scrub mussels and remove beards. Discard any that are open. Cut fish into chunky pieces. After broth has cooked 10 minutes, stir in shrimp and mussels. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook until most mussels are open and shrimp are bright pink, about 4 minutes, then gently stir in fish. Cover and cook 2 to 3 more minutes. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened. Spoon into large soup bowls and sprinkle with green onion.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories
252,
Protein
36 g,
Carbohydrates
8 g,
Fat
6 g,
Fibre
1 g,
Sodium
690 mg.

Add a side salad to your ragout

Start with mesclun greens tossed with roasted red peppers, sliced cucumbers and bottled Japanese dressing. Serve with crusty Italian, French or garlic bread. End with a selection of cookies and squares, or scoops of sherbet with fresh raspberries.

Ragout time-saver

For a fast flavour boost, in place of fresh mussels, add two 454-g packages frozen mussels in butter garlic sauce. (They are sold in the seafood freezer section in most supermarkets.) Then continue cooking as above.