Tuscan Seafood Stew with Fennel and Saffron

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A big, brothy Livorno-style seafood stew built on olive oil, fennel, garlic and tomato, perfumed with saffron and orange zest. Cod, shrimp, squid and mussels go in at the end so everything stays tender, and a bright parsley-basil oil finishes each bowl. No dairy, no bread, no shortcuts — just clean, deeply savory shellfish broth you can make in one pot in about an hour.

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced (fronds reserved)
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 2 cups fish stock or bottled clam juice
• 1 cup water
• 1 large pinch saffron threads (about 1/4 tsp)
• 2 strips orange zest, peeled wide with a vegetable peeler
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 1 lb skinless cod or halibut fillet, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 12 oz large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 8 oz cleaned squid, bodies cut into 1/2-inch rings

• 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup basil leaves, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Warm 5 tablespoons olive oil in a wide 6-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel, onion and carrot with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and cook, stirring often, for 10 to 12 minutes, until soft and just starting to take on color at the edges. Do not let it brown hard.
2. Add the sliced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes more, scraping constantly, until it darkens to brick red.
3. Pour in the white wine, raise the heat to medium-high and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, until the pan smells sweet rather than sharp and the liquid has reduced by about half.
4. Add the hand-crushed tomatoes with their juice, the fish stock, water, saffron, orange zest strips, bay leaf, the remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady low simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the broth tastes rounded and slightly thickened. Fish out the bay leaf and orange zest.
5. While the broth simmers, make the finishing oil: stir the parsley, basil, grated garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt together in a small bowl. Set aside at room temperature.
6. Raise the heat so the broth is at a brisk simmer. Add the mussels, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until most have opened. Discard any mussels that stay shut.
7. Nestle the cod chunks into the broth, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Scatter in the shrimp and squid rings, cover again, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, just until the shrimp are pink and opaque, the squid is firm and white, and the fish flakes when nudged with a spoon. Total seafood time should be under 10 minutes — pull it the moment the shrimp turn.
8. Taste the broth and adjust salt. Ladle into wide bowls, dividing the seafood evenly, spoon the parsley-basil oil generously over each portion and top with chopped reserved fennel fronds. Serve right away with spoons.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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