One-Pan Spanish Fish Stew

This Spanish fish stew was delicious. All the flavours went really well together. I used Rock Fish, which is a meatier fish and worked really well and I also put the chickpeas in when I added the tomatoes as I like my chickpeas to be on the mushier side if I'm eating them whole. I'm still not sure why the parsley mix was added at the end, I'm not sure it brought anything to the dish and it probably could have been added in earlier.

One-Pan Spanish Fish Stew (from Good Food Magazine March 2009)

(Serves 4)

handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
zest and juice 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 medium onion, finely sliced
500g floury potatoes, cut into small chunks, no larger than 2cm cubes
1 tsp paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 fish stock cube
200g raw peeled king prawns
½ a 410g/14oz can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
500g skinless fish fillets, cut into very large chunks

In a small bowl, mix the parsley with ½ the garlic and lemon zest, then set aside. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan. Throw in the onion and potatoes, cover the pan, then sweat everything for about 5 mins until the onion has softened. Add the remaining oil, garlic and spices, then cook for 2 mins more.

Pour over the lemon juice and sizzle for a moment. Add the tomatoes, ½ a can of water and crumble in the stock. Season with a little salt, then cover the pan. Simmer everything for 15-20 mins until the potatoes are just cooked.

Stir through the prawns and chickpeas, then nestle the fish chunks into the top of the stew. Reduce the heat and recover the pan, then cook for about 8 mins, stirring very gently once or twice.

When the fish is just cooked through, remove from the heat, scatter with the parsley mix, then bring the dish to the table with the bottle of olive oil for drizzling over and some crusty bread, if you want.