Chef's Recipes

Brodetto di pesce

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Italian fish stew from A Tavola restaurant in Bondi.

  • 30 mins preparation
  • 50 mins cooking
  • Serves 4
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Brodetto di pesce
"I have long been searching for a great brodetto or fish stew and now I've found it in Bondi. Would you please request the recipe from A Tavola?"
Frank Cancian, Norwood, SA
REQUEST A RECIPE
To request a recipe, email fareexchange@bauer-media.com.au or send us a message via Facebook. Please include the restaurant's name and address, as well as your name and address. Please note that because of the volume of requests we receive, we can only publish a selection in the magazine.

Ingredients

  • 60 ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling (¼ cup)
  • 1 fennel bulb, cut into thin wedges
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 1 each star anise and cinnamon quill
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • Pinch of chilli flakes
  • 200 gm black mussels, scrubbed, bearded
  • 150 gm vongole, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes
  • 100 ml white vermouth
  • 1 litre fish stock (4 cups)
  • 400 gm canned whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 200 gm skinless fillet each lachet, snapper, ocean trout, cut into 2.5cm pieces
  • 2 scampi, halved lengthways
  • To serve: basil and crusty bread

Method

Main
  • 1
    Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add fennel, garlic and spices and sauté until garlic starts to colour (2-3 minutes). Increase heat to high, add mussels and vongole and shake pan until they start to open (1-2 minutes). Add vermouth and stir occasionally until all open (3-4 minutes). Remove shellfish and fennel and set aside. Add stock, tomatoes and bay leaf to pan, bring to the simmer, reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until reduced by half and a thin-soup consistency (25-35 minutes). Blend with a stick bender, strain through a sieve into a clean pan.
  • 2
    Bring soup to the simmer over medium heat, add fish and poach (1-2 minutes). Stir in scampi, mussels, vongole and fennel and cook for 5-7 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and stand for 5 minutes to allow flavours to develop. Season to taste and serve scattered with basil, drizzled with oil and with crusty bread.