Bouillabaisse; a French fish soup

You can use ready to go fish broth for this recipe but you can also make this bouillabaisse from your own created fish broth. The recipe for this can be found here.

Start by cleaning and cutting the vegetables. Cut the fennel into thin strips. Take out the hard center piece. Clean the leeks and cut them into thin rings. Peel and chop the onion. Peel the garlic, cut it about half and remove the root.

Boil a little water to place the saffron in, this only needs to be a small layer.

Boil water to skin the tomatoes. Make a cross in the skin of the tomatoes and place it in the boiling water. After 2 minutes drain the water and cool the tomatoes with a lot of cold water. Remove the skins and seeds from the tomatoes. Cut the flesh into pieces.

Peel the orange and keep the peel separate.

Rinse the shellfish and remove the shells that do not close in water.

Put a large soup pan on the stove. Melt some butter. Once the butter has melted, add the onion, saffron and leeks. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the fennel and cook over a high heat for a few minutes while stirring well. Extinguish with the pastis and let some of the moist evaporate. Now add the tomato paste and squeeze the garlic into the pan. Stir well and pour in the fish stock. Add the bay leaves and star anise. Simmer the soup for 30 minutes and add the orange zest for the last 10 minutes.

Now cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and put the fish and shellfish in the soup. Let the soup cook for another 10 minutes. Taste the soup and add some salt and pepper to taste. Remove the bay leaves, star anise and orange peels. This soup is delicious with a crispy fried bun with olive oil and garlic and a rouille of pointed peppers. You can find that recipe here.