Fish soup with monkfish you'll love

This fish soup is a perfect symbol of the Mediterranean diet. It is healthy, it is delicious and it's not hard to make at all.

It's a traditional Catalan fish soup, but not as old as others because monkfish wasn't known in the Middle Ages. This was probably because the monk fish lives in very deep waters.

Monk fish is ideal for fish soup and fish broth, and it's now available in most countries, at least in premium fish markets. However, if it isn't available for you, the second best is halibut or another firm-fleshed ocean white fish.

Finally, if in your part of the world you can only get big monk fishes, buy the head part for this fish soup. Also, buy the liver of the monkfish. If this is impossible, skip this part of the recipe.

Ingredients for this fih soup

Serves 4

• 1 2-pound (1 kg) monkfish with the liver – use halibut or other firm-fleshed ocean white fish if not available
• 2 ½ quart (2.5 l) water
• Italian, French or country-style bread slices – Slice the bread as thinly as possible
• 1 sprig dried fennel or 1 rib celery
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 sprig oregano
• Salt
• 1 pinch sweet red pepper – optional
• 3 tablespoons olive oil – use extra virgin olive oil if possible
• 1 onion – peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes – peeled, finely chopped, and seeded. Seeding is optional
• 2 cloves garlic – crushed

• 4 toasted almonds
• 4 toasted hazelnuts
• 2 garlic cloves – peeled
• 1 small pinch saffron
• 1 monkfish liver

Fish soup preparation instructions

Preparation time: about 20 minutes.
Cooking time: about 60 minutes.

1. Clean the monkfish. Remove the skin and bones and separate the head.


• If you are fortunate enough to live by the sea, professional cooks recommend to clean the monkfish with sea water.


2. First make a fish stock. Add the water to a soup pot. Next, add the head, the skin, and the bones of the monkfish, the thyme, the fennel or celery, the bay leaves, the oregano, and 1 level teaspoon salt. Bring it to a boil and cook for 30 minutes covered over medium-high heat. Strain the fish stock and set aside.


3. Meanwhile, dice the monkfish tail into small square pieces.


4. While the fish stock is cooking, make a sofregit. Add the olive oil to a casserole or Dutch oven. When the olive oil is hot, add the onion and stir. When the onion is golden, add the garlic, stir a few moments and add the tomato. Stir and cook over medium-low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.


5. Add the bread slices and the fish stock to the sofregit and cook for 15 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir well with a wooden spoon or hand whisk in order to dissolve the bread in the fish broth.


6. Meanwhile, make a picada with the saffron, garlic, almonds, hazelnuts, and liver. Add the picada ingredients to a mortar in the stated order. Crush and pound with the pestle for a few moments every time you add an ingredient, before adding the next one. Dissolve the picada with 2 or 3 tablespoons of fish stock.


7. When the fish soup has already cooked for about 13 minutes, add the picada and the monkfish square pieces, and the optional pinch of pepper. Stir briefly and gently. Cook for 10 to 15 more minutes and the fish soup is ready to be served.