Bouillabaisse Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes in pressure cooker, 75 minutes on stovetop
Makes: 4 serves of Bouillabaisse
Ingredients Needed
For Soup Base
- Pinch saffron
- 2 teaspoons hot water
- 60g/2ozs oil or butter for frying
- 200g/7ozs onions, peeled and diced
- 120g/4.2oz leeks, peeled and diced
- 1 small fennel (around 220g/7.7ozs), diced (fronds and all)
- 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 680g/24oz tomato passata
- 4 cups/1 litre water
- 100ml/3.5flozs Pastis, Dry Vermouth or White WIne
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 sprigs parsley
- 3 sprigs thyme
- Piece of orange peel
- 2 star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- 2kg/4.4lbs fish bones (liver and gills removed) and prawn shells
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoons sugar
Seafood to finish
- 450g/1lb fish fillets (see ingredients for types), cut into large chunks
- 450g/1lb of other seafood (clams, squid and mussels, prawns)
- 4 king prawns
- 8 scallops, roe off
Rouille
- Pinch saffron
- 2 teaspoons hot water
- 35g/1.2oz roasted red capsicum (around 1/2)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs sunflower oil
- 10g/0.3oz fresh breadcrumbs
- 4 slices of sourdough bread
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 SOUP BASE - Infuse saffron in the water and allow to bloom for 5-10 minutes. Place instant pot on saute setting for 20 minutes and add oil or butter to the pot. Saute, onion, leeks and fennel until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add passata, water, liqueur, tomato paste, parsley, thyme, orange peel, star anise, bay leaf and saffron water and bring to a boil. Add the fish bones and set to pressure cook for 15 minutes. You can also do this in a large pot on the stovetop but it will take around 60 minutes simmering with the lid on.
Step 2 ROUILLE - While the soup is cooking I make the rouille. Use a food processor with a funnel (to slowly drizzle in the oil). Infuse saffron in the water and allow to bloom for 5-10 minutes. Place the saffron water, capsicum, garlic, egg yolk, lemon juice and salt and blitz on high speed until a fine consistency. Then drizzle in the oil in gradually through the funnel with the food processor on constantly. It should emulsify perfectly. Add in the breadcrumbs and process until fine. Scoop rouille into a piping bag.
Step 3 SEAFOOD - Release pressure from the pressure cooker and remove lid. Cool for 20 minutes (optional but I find it easier to handle) and strain the soup mixture in a sieve in 2 lots reserving the scarlet coloured soup. Wash the pot and place the strained soup back into the pot and season with salt and sugar. Before ready to serve, switch pressure cooker to saute and bring the soup to a simmer. Add the fish, clams, squid and mussels and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the prawns and scallops and cook for 2 minutes. Do not overcook the seafood. Ladle into a serving dish.
Step 4 TOAST - Toast the bread until golden on both sides. Cut the tip from the piping bag and pipe rouille on top in squiggles and sprinkle with parsley. Serve toasts alongside the bouillabaisse.
Personal Note
We ate this bouillabaisse on the same weekend that Milo recently celebrated this fourth birthday. This apparently makes him around 30-32 years old in human years. Milo still acts like a puppy and that makes me happy as he acts like life is just a fun adventure.
For his birthday we stayed in a pet friendly hotel and then I made him a birthday cake. It's the same cake I make the dogs every year made with minced pork and roasted sweet potato. This time I shaped it into a bone shape and baked it in the oven. Then while it cooled off we went to the park where Milo promptly lay down in a giant muddy puddle with his ball. It's almost as if he knew that he had the freedom to do anything on that day. A quick swim in the dam and then a shower at home cleaned him right up.
When we got home it was time for birthday cake and dinner. Mr NQN cut off one of the ends of the bone cake to give to Teddy and then placed the rest of the cake down for Milo. "Giving him the whole thing will slow him down," he said. Milo usually eats from a slow feeder bowl as he wolfs down food.
He placed Teddy's bowl down and encouraged Teddy to start eating his food (he always needs a verbal nudge). Then Mr NQN turned around and did a double take, "Where did the cake go?" and Milo, well he was just licking his lips and looking very happy! Milo had devoured his cake in record time! Sometimes I worry that he will get a tummy ache from eating so quickly but nope, he just devours everything with gusto including life!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like bouillabaisse?