It has been a while since I last had fish and since I was still in the soup and stew mode I thought that I would combine the two ideas and do a fish soup or stew. Luckily I had been mulling over the idea of using the flavours of a putanesca sauce in soup form and I figured that using fish in such a soup would be perfect! A putanesca sauce is an Italian sauce that normally contains things like onions, garlic, chili pepper flakes, anchovies, olives and capers making it tangy, spicy and salty and plain old just filled to the brim with flavour. I was really taken with the idea of using these flavours in a stew and I just knew that pairing it with a firm white fish wold work really well. I did however want to get some more vegetables into the stew to make it lean more towards the healthy side of things and I liked the sound of adding some zucchini which is still available. For the fish, I went with a nice piece of halibut which tends to hold together fairly well, though you could use any white fish in this recipe. I served the puttanesca stew along with some crusty bread to make sure that none of the tasty broth got away!
Fish and Zucchini Puttanesca Stew
A fish and zucchini stew inspired by a flavour packed puttanesca sauce.
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 2 anchovy fillets, chopped
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes or 4 cup diced fresh tomatoes
- 2 cups seafood, chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained, rinsed and chopped
- 1/4 cup olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 pound zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 pound white fish, cut into bite sized pieces
- pepper to taste
- 1 handful parsley, chopped
directions
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, red chili pepper flakes and anchovy fillets and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes, stock, capers, olives, oregano and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, fish and simmer until the zucchini is tender and the fish flakes easily, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.
Helene says
October 22, 2011 at 11:20 pmI don't eat fish as much as I would like to. A stew is nice today with the colder weather we are having Kevin.
Anonymous says
October 23, 2011 at 12:31 am♪ Another nice concoction of yours Kevin. Happy, hearty and healthy. ♫
Eri says
October 23, 2011 at 12:41 amI love this recipe! I love the colours and I'm sure it's delicious!
Joanne says
October 23, 2011 at 10:28 amI love how this stew is both fresh-flavored and still total curl-up-in-bed comfort food. The perfect combo for this time of year!
Dawn says
October 24, 2011 at 1:54 pmWow this looks amazing. I have some fish and shrimp that I cooked up yesterday and this would be perfect to use the leftovers in!
Matt Wrench says
October 24, 2011 at 6:39 pmI love fish stew! Makes for a nicer, lighter change than beef stew.
aBroad says
October 24, 2011 at 7:30 pmI haven't made a fish stew in years but this looks like I will have to make it soon… while it is still cool ..
Michelle W. says
October 24, 2011 at 10:58 pmI'm fairly new to your blog, but I love it! You are fearlessly creative! I'm not a fan of fish soups at all! It's the milk/fish thing… yuck! But this stew is deliciously inviting, from the way the name of it dances on the tongue, to the bright colors swimming in the bowl! I would most willingly dip my spoon into this dish!
Kristi says
October 25, 2011 at 12:14 amHi Kevin,
I found your blog a few weeks or so ago and have been lurkign since. I have been pinning manu pf your food photos onto Pinterest because I think you do such a great job with the styling and the food itself just looks so delicious! I also blog about food but as a restaurant blogger (Twin Cities Restaurant Blog based out of Minnesota). Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. Keep up the excellent work 🙂
Thomas Drudge says
June 8, 2013 at 3:43 amSuper tasty, quick and easy 🙂
My one comment might be to add the zucchini a couple minutes before the fish. That let's the zucchini cook through while keeping the fish as larger chunks.
thelady8home says
December 30, 2017 at 10:33 pmI’ve always loved your recipes. Your fish recipes are some kind of awesome. Love it!