Hed Chef: Hearty seafood stew for a festive dinner party
It is possible to throw a festive dinner party without working yourself into a tizzy.
This seafood stew can carry its own weight and is not too difficult to cook. All you need is one sturdy pot for cooking, which means less washing up.
You do need to factor in preparation time though.
For the shellfish, keep them alive and remove the grit by soaking them in slightly chilled salt water for an hour, changing the salt water at least twice.
Serve up this stew with bread or rice, and that should suffice as a hearty main course.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 onions (350g), chopped
- 1 red bell pepper (150g), diced
- 3 stalks of celery (180g), diced
- 1 stalk of leek, (80g), sliced
- 4 garlic cloves (30g), chopped
- 30g fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 30g Chinese celery, chopped
- 3 flower crabs (450g), cleaned and halved
- 200ml red wine
- 1 ear of fresh corn (200g), cut into 2.5cm-thick slices
- 2 chorizo sausages (180g), cut into 3cm-thick pieces
- 1 level tbsp of paprika
- 450ml vegetable stock
- 2 cans of diced tomato (800g)
- 300g live flower clams
- 800g live white clams
- 230g live green mussels
- 8 prawns (300g)
- 1 can of tomato paste (170g)
- 2 tsp salt
METHOD
1. In a large sturdy pot, heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion and red bell pepper. Fry for two minutes.
3. Add chopped celery and fry for two minutes.
4. Add leek, garlic, half of the chopped basil and half of the chopped Chinese celery and fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add the flower crabs and fry for five minutes.
6. Pour in the red wine and stir through the mixture.
7. Add the corn and chorizo. Fry for one minute.
8. Add the paprika and diced tomato and stir to mix.
9. Add the vegetable stock, flower clams, white clams and mussels. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
10. Add the prawns and tomato paste. Stir through and cook for another 2 minutes until cooked through.
11. Season with salt.
12. Discard clams that remain closed.
13. Garnish with remaining chopped basil and Chinese celery. Serve hot.
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