Riviera Fish Soup

This soup was nothing that I expected and everything that I am now craving!! It is truly fabulous if you love seafood. I needed to improvise quite a bit in this recipe so I'm listed my recipe and the cookbook reference.

In the end you get a delicious, thick, red pureed soup with every great seafood smell you can love in a soup -- with just one fish. We paired this with toasted baguette slices with homemade aioli.

Ingredients with notes:

• 1 whole red snapper, about 2 lbs (ask your fishmonger to clean and scale) (a, b)
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, chopped finely
• 1 small fennel bulb, tripped, core removed, chopped
• 28 oz canned plum tomatoes
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 3 pinches saffron threads
• 3 tbsp anise seed infused vodka (c) plus more per serving
• 1 wide strip of orange zest with pith removed
• bouquet garni: 2 parsley springs, 2 thyme leaves, 1 bay leaf (I used dried and it worked fine), tied together or wrapped in cheesecloth
• salt and pepper
• dash of cayenne

Notes on Ingredients:

(a) The cookbook calls for using the head in the soup for flavor, but I didn't know how to properly trim the head, so I'll have to try that next time after I do some research. Unfortunately the cookbook does not help with this part, so if you aren't familiar with this type of cooking, leverage YouTube!

(b) For another time in a rush, I think I'll try a frozen fillet, thawed, just to save time. I'm sure it will not as delicious, but it might still be good.

(c) This recipe called for Pastis such as Richard, but we didn't have it so we "created" our own by adding about 1 tbsp anise seeds to 4 oz vodka. Shake and let sit for 2-3 minutes, then strain through a coffee filter. This makes enough for the dish.

Instructions:

1. If you purchased the whole fish, this is the video I watched to learn how to fillet the fish. Once you've got two fillets, skin still on, cut them into 1 inch chunks and set aside.
2. In a large stock pot, add heat the olive oil, and add the chopped garlic until you begin to smell the garlic roasting a bit. Immediately add the fennel, onion and carrots. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes until softened.
3. Add fish and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes or so.
4. Drain and save the liquid from the tomatoes and add them to the pot. Use scissors to cut the tomatoes in the pot into smaller pieces. Stir.
5. Add tomato paste and saffron. Stir and cook for a few more minutes.
6. Add enough liquid to the reserved tomato liquid to make 5 cups of water, and add to the pot; stir.
7. Add 2 tbsp anise-vodka, bouquet garni, salt and pepper, and cayenne. 
8. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cook uncooked for 30-40 minutes.
9. Use an emersion blender to puree the soup. The original recommends also putting this through a sieve, but we enjoyed it right after blending.
10. When serving, stir an additional tablespoon or two of anise-vodka into each bowl.

This is quite a give a take on the recipe - I have no idea if my version is as good as Dorie Greenspan's but we LOVED it! You can find the original here:

Around My French Table

Recipe found on page 92.