Easy Bouillabaisse Soup Recipes

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Add saffron to sherry set aside.
• Cut fish into bite size pieces.
• Scrub clams and mussels.
• In a large stock pot heat oil. Saute onions, shallots, carrot, fennel, and garlic in oil on low heat until lightly golden.
• Add all liquids and seasonings including the saffron infused sherry.
• Bring to just a boil. Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes. Add all seafood adding squid last, mix and simmer 10 minutes.
• Serve hot in large bowls.
• Top with garnishes.
• Serve with crusty bread, and a tossed salad.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the onions, leeks, chopped tomatoes, and garlic. Cook and stir over a low heat for a few minutes until all vegetables are soft.
• Stir in the fennel, thyme, bay leaf, and orange zest. Add shellfish and boiling water; stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Turn up the heat to high, and boil for about 3 minutes to allow the oil and water to combine.
• Add fish, and reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking for 12 to 15 minutes, or until fish is cooked. The fish should be opaque and tender, but still firm. Fish should not be falling apart.
• Taste the bouillabaisse and adjust the seasoning. Stir in saffron, and then pour soup into a warmed tureen or soup dishes. Serve immediately.

BOUILLABAISSE, SIMPLIFIED

Steps:

• 1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, and fennel and saut until just brown, 5 to 10 minutes.
• 2. Add the saffron (if using), orange zest, tomatoes, and stock or clam juice.
• 3. Bring to a boil and cook until the vegetables are tender and the liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes.
• 4. Reduce heat to medium and add the fish (but not shellfish). Cook for about 2 minutes.
• 5. Add any clams, mussels, and shrimp. Simmer until the shells just begin to open, about 4 minutes more.
• 6. Add any crabmeat.
• 7. Cook until all shells have opened, the shrimp is pink and curled, and the fish flakes easily, about 2 minutes.
• 8. Serve from the pot, sprinkled with the parsley and topped with crusty bread and a dollop of rouille.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• For the Rockfish Soup:
• Prepare the fish by cutting off the gills and external hairy bits and discarding. Keep the fish in salt water.
• Put the small rock fish (girolles, baby crabs, stone fish) into a large saucepan of cold water on high heat. Add the thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
• For the Soup:
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook the chopped onions until translucent. Pour in the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then add the sliced potatoes. Place the pieces of John Dory and the monkfish on top.
• Strain the rock fish soup through a strainer on top of the fish and boil for 5 minutes.
• Place the rascasse, scorpion fish, and red mullet on top. Add a pinch of saffron and watch soup turn a rich yellow color. Finally add the lobster halves and cook for a maximum of 5 minutes.
• Serve the big fish on a serving plate and the soup in a casserole. Serve the pieces of fish on the plate with potato slices and the Croutons with Rouille and pour the soup over the top. Eat immediately.

SIMPLE BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, carrot, saffron, bay leaf and parsley. Peel and crush 1 garlic clove and add it to the pan. Add the fish, shrimp and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and boil for 10 minutes. Add the fish broth and wine, bring to a rapid simmer and cook until the fish is just cooked through. Adjust the seasoning, adding more saffron, lemon juice, salt and pepper as desired.
• Rub the toasts with the remaining peeled garlic clove. Set a toast in the bottom of each of 6 bowls and ladle the soup on top.

BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• To make the croutons heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Lay the slices of bread on a flat baking tray in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15 mins until golden and crisp. Set aside - can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container.
• Use a layer of the green part of the leek to wrap around and make a herb bundle with the thyme, bay, parsley stalks, orange peel and chilli. Tie everything together with kitchen string and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a very large casserole dish or stock pot and throw in the onion, sliced leek and fennel and cook for about 10 mins until softened. Stir through the garlic and cook for 2 mins more, then add the herb bundle, tomato purée, star anise, Pernod if using, chopped tomatoes and saffron. Simmer and stir for a minute or two then pour over the fish stock. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, then add the piece of potato. Bubble everything gently for 30 mins until you have a thin tomatoey soup. When that piece of potato is on the brink of collapse, fish it out and set aside to make the rouille.
• While the broth is simmering make the rouille by crushing the garlic, chilli and saffron with a pinch of salt in a mortar with a pestle. Mash in the cooked potato to make a sticky paste then whisk in the egg yolk and, very gradually, the olive oil until you make a mayonnaise-like sauce. Stir in the lemon juice and set aside.
• Once the chunky tomato broth has cooked you have two options: for a rustic bouillabaisse, simply poach your fish in it along with the mussels, if you're using (just until they open) and serve. For a refined version, remove the herb bundle and star anise. Using a handheld or table-top blender, blitz the soup until smooth. Pass the soup through a sieve into a large, clean pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Starting with the densest fish, add the chunks to the broth and cook for 1 min before adding the next type. With the fish we used, the order was: monkfish, John Dory, grey mullet, snapper. When all the fish is in, scatter over the mussels, if using, and simmer everything for about 5 mins until just cooked and the mussels have opened.
• Use a slotted spoon to carefully scoop the fish and mussels out onto a warmed serving platter, moisten with just a little broth and scatter over the chopped parsley. Bring everything to the table. Some people eat it as two courses, serving the broth with croutons and rouille first, then the fish spooned into the same bowl. Others simply serve it as a fish stew. Whichever way you choose the rouille is there to be stirred into the broth to thicken and give it a kick.

QUICK "N" EASY BOUILLABAISSE FOR TWO

Steps:

• Cut lobster tail in half lengthwise, leaving shell intact, then cut into 1-inch pieces (still with shell on).
• Scrub mussels, remove beard.
• Shell and devein shrimp, leaving tails intact.
• Combine water and wine in pan, bring to a boil, add seafood, cover, simmer 5 minutes, drain, reserve 1 cup of the stock.
• Heat oil in pan, add garlic and onion cook, stirring until onion is soft.
• Add reserved stock, undrained crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sauces, sugar and saffron to pan.
• Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes , add seafood, heat through gently, serve immediately in bowls, sprinkled with parsley.

LAUREN'S BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Place red pepper and mayonnaise in a food processor; cover and process until smooth. Refrigerate until serving., For toasts, rub 1 side of each bread slice with garlic; discard garlic. Cut bread slices in half. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 4-5 minutes on each side or until lightly browned., In a stockpot, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Reduce heat; stir in tomatoes and saffron. Add the potatoes, fennel, broth, clam juice and tarragon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender., Add the clams, mussels, snapper and shrimp. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until clams and mussels open and fish flakes easily with a fork. Discard any unopened clams or mussels. Spoon into bowls; sprinkle with parsley. Spread pepper mayo over toasts; serve with bouillabaisse.

MARK BITTMAN'S BOUILLABAISSE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees; brush bread liberally with olive oil, and bake on a sheet, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Add enough olive oil to a Dutch oven, deep skillet or shallow pot to make a thick layer (don't skimp) on the bottom. In it, cook onion, garlic, celery, carrot, potato, fennel and saffron until glossy. Add stock and tomato and bring to a moderate boil; cook until thick and stewy rather than soupy. Season to taste; it should be so delicious that you don't even care whether you add fish.
• Lower heat to a simmer, and, as you add fish, adjust heat so that the liquid continues to bubble gently. Add fish in order of how long they will take to cook. Monkfish, striped bass and squid are fish that might require more than a few minutes, so add them first. About five minutes later add clams and mussels, holding back any fish that has been cooked or will cook in a flash. When mollusks open, add remaining fish. Cut scallops into quarters and place in the bottom of 4 bowls.
• Add pastis if you're using it; taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle hot soup and fish over the scallops, distributing clams and mussels evenly. Garnish and serve with croutons and rouille, if you're using.