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Summer Seafood Stew in a light and flavorful tomato-fennel broth with smoky chorizo. Serve with Crusty Bread to mop up all the flavorful juices! For a Gluten-free option, instead of bread add cannellini beans!
What is not given is lost. ~Ghandi
Though summer officially arrives in a few days, nights are still cool in the Pacific Northwest and this Summer Seafood Stew seems the perfect meal to help bridge the gap. Light, bright and full of flavor, the fennel-tomato broth makes for a delicious base, landing somewhere in-between Boullabasie and Cioppino.
Caramelized fennel adds a subtle sweetness, fresh tomatoes add tanginess, while chorizo (or soy chorizo) kicks up the flavor by adding the perfect amount of heat and heartiness.
Serve this with crusty bread to mop up all the juices, this is the perfect dinner. If opting for gluten-free, try adding cannellini beans for a little extra heartiness instead of the bread.
If you are efficient in the kitchen, this can be made in 30 minutes. The flavorful fennel- tomato broth can also be made ahead and refrigerated, and when you are ready to eat, heat it up on the stove and finish by adding the seafood. Viola.
The recipe starts with browning a little chorizo (6-8 oz) in a heavy bottom skillet, or dutch oven. You can also substitute soy chorizo. If your chorizo comes in links, make sure to take it out of the casing and break it up a little into bite-size pieces. One it is browned, set aside, drain off the fat and wipe out the pan with a paper towel. You could also use a cured, smoky Spanish-style chorizo, but this would be mainly for seasoning the broth – so reduce the quantity.
In a little olive oil, sauté fennel bulb and onion, until both are caramelized and tender.
Flavor tip: This is an amazing technique to build depth and flavor, and can be used in many other dishes. Add the tomato paste to the hot pan and stir constantly, sauteing on high heat for a few minutes. It will begin to darken. Cooking or frying the tomato paste-like this really adds deep umami flavor.
Then add the white wine, let reduce, add stock, fresh tomatoes and browned chorizo. When I don’t have time to make a good fish stock, I use chicken stock and add a teaspoon of fish sauce. This seems to do the trick. Let simmer for a few minutes. Taste for salt…as all stocks and also chorizo vary in saltiness. Add fresh cracked pepper. When I make this recipe, using these exact ingredients, (using flavorful chicken stock, fish sauce, chorizo, sauteing the tomato paste) I don’t need to add salt. After the stew has simmered for a few minutes….add the fresh seafood.
Be sure to add the seafood according to cooking time. For example, large chunks of halibut will take longer to cook than mussels, so put the halibut in first. Large shrimp will take longer to cook than tiny shrimp.
The best firm fish for soups or stews:
You generally want to use firm white fish for most stews and soups, because they will hold their shape and not disintegrate in the liquid. Here are 10 the best fish (and seafood) to use in soups and stews.
- sea bass
- halibut
- black cod
- haddock
- escolar
- ono
- red snapper
- salmon
- scallops
- shrimp
Look at what you have and think about which will cook fastest and slowest and add them accordingly. Normally, I add the fish first, bring back to a simmer for only a couple of minutes, add the prawns, simmer for 1-2 minutes, add the mussels, simmer for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring very gently.
Give a generous squeeze of lemon and sprinkle with fresh Italian parsley.
Good crusty bread is easily made by purchasing a quality loaf of bread (I like rosemary or whole roasted garlic) and slicing it into thick slices. Place on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Place in a hot oven until lightly browned.
Here you have it, a simple Sumer Seafood Stew that comes together quickly and easily. Hope you enjoy this!
Other Recipes you may like:
- Simple Authentic Cioppino Recipe
- Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca!)
- Balinese Fish and Potato Curry (Kari Ikan)
- Simple Salmon Chowder
- Peruvian Seafood Stew with Cilantro Broth
- 20 Simple Healthy Fish & Seafood Recipes
Summer Seafood Stew
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Main, seafood, stew, fish,
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Northwest
Description
Summer Seafood Stew in a light and flavorful fennel-tomato broth with Chorizo. This can be made in 30 minutes! Serve with crusty bread to mop up all the juices or if going gluten free, sub cannellini beans for extra heartiness!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 6–8 ounces crumbled chorizo
- 2 cups finely diced fennel (one large bulb)
- 1 cup finely diced onion ( half a large onion)
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups Chicken Stock ( or a good fish stock)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce ( leave out if using fish stock)
- 2 medium tomatoes- diced ( or one can of diced tomatoes and juices)
- 8 oz firm fish like halibut, talapia, mahi mahi, or salmon
- 1 lb mussels (or sub clams)
- 1 lb large prawns, raw, peeled and de-veined (or sub scallops)
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes or cayenne
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 lemon
- Crusty Bread or 1 Cup of Cannellini Beans
Instructions
- In a large heavy bottom deep skillet or Dutch oven, brown the chorizo in a little olive oil. (Remove from casing and break up or crumble into small bite-size pieces). Once browned, set aside. Pour off the fat, wipe out skillet with paper towel.
- In same skillet, heat the olive oil on med-high heat. Add fennel, stirring often for about 3 minutes. Add onion, turn heat down to med and saute both until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add garlic, sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until garlic starts turn golden. Add tomato paste. Turn heat up to high, constantly stirring, until paste darkens, about 3 more minutes. You are basically frying the paste to deepen the flavor of the dish.
- Add white wine and turn heat down to medium-high, stirring until it cooks down by half, about 2 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, browned chorizo, and fish sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, and chili flakes. If using chorizo, the broth may be salty enough- each chorizo is different. Squeeze with half the lemon. Taste. You want the broth to taste rich and flavorful.
- Add fish, simmer a couple minutes and add prawns, simmer a couple minutes, then add mussels. Remember the larger the prawns or mussels or fish pieces the longer they take to cook, so look at all your seafood ingredients and determine which will take the longest to cook, putting them in first.
- Taste, adjust salt and lemon to your preferences.
- Divide among bowls and Finish with the fresh parsley.
Notes
- Optional: Serve with crusty bread. I like to cut a loaf of good quality garlic or rosemary bread into thick slices, arrange on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and fresh rosemary sprigs, and bake in a 400F oven until toasty, or even better, grill the bread.
- If you are going gluten-free, try adding a cup of cooked cannellini beans to the stew for added heartiness, instead of serving with bread.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 476
- Sugar: 4.6 g
- Sodium: 1007 mg
- Fat: 23.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.3 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 49.3 g
- Cholesterol: 224.5 mg
Keywords: seafood stew, seafood stew recipe, fish stew, bouillabaisse recipe, cioppino, cioppino recipe
Wonderful summer recipe. We used veggie sausage and some tamari in place of the fish sauce along with a melange of seafood (scallops, squid, and shrimp). Just excellent..thank you!
Glad you liked Lisa!
Holy heck. We edited this for what we had on hand (like a frozen leftover fennel/seafood broth) and it was PERFECTION. Thank you for this. We had a locally made chorizo, the end of a bag of frozen shrimp, fridge-stable mussels, fennel, and random thawed homemade broth.
★★★★★
I don’t have fish stock or fish sauce, will clam juice work?
yes!
Absolutely delicious, definitely a winner with the family and will be a on high rotation here. Thankyou so much.
Thanks so much and great to hear! 🙌
What a lovely meal! I have several recipes for seafood casseroles and stews and this is one of the best. The chorizo does no overpower the taste (well not the chorizo I used). I included squid rings but I reckon you could use other items as well such as crab, octopus and various shellfish.
★★★★★
Great to hear!
Made this for dinner with friends, it was a huge success. Definitely will make it again soon. Thanks !
★★★★★
Just made this for dinner and served it over angel hair pasta! I didn’t add the chorizo, but I will next time. It was delicious and my family raved about it. I added a little curry and some leeks. The fennel was such a grea Idea. We loved the flavor! This is a definite keeper!!!
★★★★★
Just made this but substituted the chorizo as am a pescatarian with paprika (put in with the fennel, onion and garlic). Absolutely delicious. Almost didn’t put the fennel in but so glad made the effort to go and get some. Made fresh fish stock first. Also used butter beans, as no cannelini, as coeliac. Truly delicious. Definitely shall be remaking this! Thank you.
★★★★★
We really enjoyed this recipe- will def do again
This was delicious!
★★★★★
Yay! Im so happy you liked it!!!