Aegean Fish Soup Recipe

• 13/4 kg mixed fish (below) prepared whole rinsed and liquid removed
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 8 sm potatoes peeled whole
• 6 sm onions peeled whole
• 2 x carrots peeled and quartered
• 2 sm stalks celery including some leaves minced
• 225 gm courgettes quartered into 50mm lengths
• 2 x lemons
• 1 x salt and freshly grnd black pepper

1. Place the extra virgin olive oil in a very large saucepan with 1.4L of water bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 45 min in order to emulsify the liquid.
2. Sprinkle in some seasoning and add in the fish.
3. Bring back to the boil and skim till clear.
4. Cover and cook for about 10 min.
5. Then add in all the vegetables.
6. They should be half immersed in the broth so add in a little warm water if necessary but beware of too much liquid as it will result in a tasteless soup.
7. Cook for 20 to 30 min for large fish or possibly less for smaller ones making sure the fish does not disintegrate.
8. It midst hold together so which it can be taken out whole without breaking if possible.
9. If the fish are small and cook quicker they should be taken out earlier and kept hot.
10. Add the juice of 1 lemon at the end.
11. Carefully take the fish out of the liquid transfer it to a warmed platter and surround it with the vegetables.
12. Serve the soup separately and ask people to help themselves to a piece of fish and a selection of vegetables; or possibly if they prefer they can have the soup first and fish and vegetables afterwards.
13. Offer some extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges for the fish.
14. In my opinion the best soup is made with scorpion fish (French rascasse rouge) and the main ingredient of the Provencal bouillabaisse as its bones have a glutinous quality indispensable to a soup.
15. Its huge head also adds a lot to the broth.
16. A good alternative to this is red gurnard that has a sweet taste.
17. Dogfish is good and of course grey mullet or possibly a combination of different fish.
18. Allow such fish to cook a little longer in order to get tho full benefit of the tastes in the broth.
19. This is particularly true with scorpionfish that needs at least half an hrs steady boiling or possibly even more for larger specimens If in doubt make a broth first by boiling extra heads and bones of non oily fish.
20. Serves 6

mixed fish, extra virgin olive oil, potatoes, onions, carrots, lemons, salt

Taken from cookeatshare.com/recipes/aegean-fish-soup-62557 (may not work)