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Words by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi. Photo by Helen Cathcart.
Ada Catto was head chef at the restaurant known locally as Alla Vedova, ‘The Widow’s Place’, for 30 years. Married to a Venetian gondolier there is nothing she doesn’t know about Venetian food. Ada’s advice for fish soup is to choose what is fresh in the market and fished sustainably. She uses a mixture of monkfish, gurnard, shrimp, baby octopus, prawns, clams and mussels. Discard any broken shells and shellfish that remain open before cooking.
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Ada’s Fish Soup with Saffron
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, left whole and lightly crushed
- ½ red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée, tomato paste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 12 medium prawns, shrimp, shells on 24 clams or mussels
- 50 ml 2 fl oz/1/2 cup white wine
- 1 litre 34 fl oz/ 41/4 cups fish or Seafood Stock (bouillon)
- ½ tsp saffron strands
- 1 kg 2 lb 4 oz firm white fish, cleaned and chopped into bite-size pieces
- Salt, to taste
- Crusty white bread or sourdough, thickly sliced and toasted, to serve
Instructions
- In a large saucepan with a lid, heat the oil over a low heat and fry the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and chilli (add more or less to suit your taste) for around 15 minutes until softened. Add the tomato purée, a good pinch of pepper, the shellfish and wine and fry for 2–3 minutes, lid on, until the clams have opened.
- Discard any clams that remain closed. Pour in the stock and saffron, increase the heat and bring to the boil. Add the fish and cook for 4–5 minutes, gently shaking the pan every now and again, until the fish is cooked through. Season with salt if necessary.
- Serve in bowls with bread.
Recipes from Venice by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi (Hardie Grant), Photography © Helen Cathcart