Supreme Italian Fish Soup

Polar Bear's Note:

THIS FISH SOUP IS UNMATCHED. SIMPLY THE BEST. Dont be intimidated by long list of ingredients (this is a fish broth and fish soup combination recipe). Many ingredients can be substituted. Fish broth can be made days in advance and stored in the fridge.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

FISH BROTH

• 2 lbs fish bones , heads and trimmings of various kinds of white-fleshed fish
• 2 quarts water
• 2 large trimmed celery ribs
• 1 large thickly-sliced onion
• 3 sprigs parsley
• 2 large ripe tomatoes , peeled seeded,and diced
• salt

FISH SOUP

• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 2 sprigs finely minced parsley , additional
• Tabasco sauce
• 1 lb crabmeat
• ½ lb squid , prepared (for cooking)
• 6 mussels , well-scrubbed
• 1 lb lobster (double crab meat if unavailable) (optional)
• 6 clams , well-scrubbed
• 1 ½ lbs red snapper or 1 ½ lbs halibut or 1 ½ lbs sea bass , fish and the like cut into 1 1/2 pieces

Directions:

1. Place the first 7 ingredients except the salt in a 6.
2. quart pot.
3. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. Skim if necessary.
5. Cool slightly and pour through a fine strainer lined with several layers of clean cheesecloth.
6. Papertowels can be substituted.
7. Season with salt very delicately so as not to overpower the flavor of fish.
8. Add the garlic, parsley, and tabasco sauce to the fish broth to give it a piquant flavor.
9. Add the seafood and simmer, half-covered, over the lowest possible heat for 2 hours.

Reviews

[Iceland]

I loved this, the directions were simple and good to follow. It was the only recipe which came up when i put "fish bones" to the recipe shifter when searching for "soup". Lovely! I gave only 4 out of 5 as i added the tomatoes after i skimmed the bones from the broth. That made it much easier i thought and it was. Thank you so much for sharing, we are having grilled fish fillets tonight and a great soup for tomorrow :-)

[Crisci]

Thank you for sharing this recipe. I loved the fact that you made the broth first because I had bones that I wanted to make into soup. After making the broth, I pulled the meat off the bones, and added that to the soup along with some scallops. It was wonderful! The hot sauce brings out the flavor of the whole dish. Thanks for sharing this with us.