Servings: 2-3
Source: The Savory Way by Deborah Madison
You could call this a failed fisherman’s soup; it has all the elements of bouillabaisse except, of course, the fish. It was Joseph Wechsberg’s chapter on bouillabaisse from his delightful gastronomic memoir, Blue Trout and Black Truffles, that prompted this recipe. His listing of ingredients before you get to the fish-fennel, potatoes, saffron, orange, and tomato-sounded absolutely delicious on their own, strong and aromatic. And they are. The classic accompaniment to fish soups, the bold rouille (a garlic mayonnaise with the fiery addition of crushed cayenne) is equally good here.
This stew can be cooked entirely on top of the stove, or it can be started on the stove and finished in the oven. This is the kind of food that cooks beautifully in earthenware and looks wonderful served directly from the baking dish. Make this just before dinner or hours before. The flavors will merge as the stew sits, but it’s delicious both ways.
Ingredients
THE STEW
1 ½ pounds red oryellow-fleshed potatoes
2 fennel bulbs
1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded, juice reserved or 2 cups whole canned tomatoes salt
3 to 4 tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 large leek, white part only, finely diced
1 large yellow onion, cut into wedges 1½ inch thick
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
2 to 3 pinches of saffron threads
a large strip of orange zest, about 2 inches long
2 bay leaves
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
12 Nicoise, Gaeta or oil-cured black olives, pitted
THE ROUILLE
3 to 5 garlic cloves
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 to 2 teaspoons ground red chili or cayenne pepper
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
½ cup light olive oil
virgin olive oil
Directions
Peel the potatoes and slice them lengthwise into quarters or, if large, into sixths. Trim the fennel, remove the outer leaves if they’re scarred, and cut into wedges ½ inch thick or a little wider. Leave some of the core so that the pieces stay intact. Cut the tomatoes into large, neat pieces.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt to taste and the potatoes, and boil for 5 minutes. Remove the potatoes, but save the water.
While the potatoes are cooking, warm the olive oil in a wide pan. When hot, add the leek, onion, garlic, herbs, a little salt, saffron, orange zest, and bay leaves. Cook slowly over medium heat until the onions have begun to soften, after 6 or 7 minutes; then add the wine. Let it reduce by approximately half, then add the tomatoes and their juices, the potatoes, fennel, half the parsley, and the olives. Pour in enough of the reserved potato water to cover, bring to a boil, and lower the heat. the stew aside and finish it later, either in the oven or
At this point you can set the stew aside and finish it later, either in the oven or on cook top of the stove. If cooking on top of the stove, cover the pan and cook slowly until the vegetables are tender, about 35 minutes. If cooking, in the oven, preheat it to 375ºF, cover loosely, and bake for about 1 hour or until done. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve with a bowl of garlic mayonnaise or the rouille below
The Rouille
Pound the garlic in a mortar with salt until it is broken down into a smooth paste; then work in the ground chili and egg yolk. Gradually add the light olive oil, drop by drop at first and eventually in a small stream. Stir in the virgin olive oil to taste and add a few spoonfuls of hot water to thin the sauce to the consistency of thick cream.