Ada's Fish Soup with Saffron is a rich, aromatic soup that showcases the best of Venetian seafood cuisine, perfected by Ada Catto during her 30 years as head chef at Alla Vedova, 'The Widow's Place'. Emphasizing fresh, sustainably fished ingredients, this soup combines a hearty mix of monkfish, gurnard, shrimp, baby octopus, prawns, clams, and mussels with a saffron-infused broth, making it a vibrant and nourishing dish. Accompanied by crusty bread or toasted sourdough, it's a perfect meal to savor the essence of Venice's culinary traditions. The recipe calls for a base of finely chopped vegetables, sautéed with garlic, chili, and tomato purée, then simmered with white wine, seafood stock, and saffron for a deeply flavorful and comforting soup.
Ingredients
6tbspextra virgin olive oil
1small onion, finely chopped
1small carrot, finely chopped
1celery stalk, finely chopped
2garlic cloves, left whole and lightly crushed
½red chilli, finely chopped
2tbsptomato purée, tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper
12medium prawns, shrimp, shells on 24 clams or mussels
50ml2 fl oz/1/2 cup white wine
1litre34 fl oz/ 41/4 cups fish or Seafood Stock (bouillon)
½tspsaffron strands
1kg2 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.