We had this last night, I like the idea of chucking all the “stewwy” parts in the pan and letting them cook down for an hour – gives me a chance to hang out the washing, tidy up and read to D. I oven bake or fry the fish towards the end of the hour and hey presto, another easy dinner. I use frozen cod so this is mostly a “store cupboard” recipe. I also throw in a few frozen prawns at the end of cooking quite often, if I have them.

Ingredients

100-200g Chorizo, cut into rounds and then cut into half moons
4-6 Thyme or Rosemary sprigs
1 large onion – red or white, doesn’t matter, cut into large chunks
1 tbsp [olive] oil
2 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g can of Chopped Tomatoes
6 baby new potatoes, halved
125ml of red or white wine (whichever you have available)
10-12 frozen raw prawns (optional)
4 fillets of fish – I use cod or salmon
Half lemon for juice

Method

First, heat a small saucepan to a very high heat, then add your wine and count to 30 and take it off the heat.

In a separate saucepan, add the oil and heat to medium, add the onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, bay leaf and thyme and cook for 4 minutes more. Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes and cook for a minute or two then add the chorizo, new potatoes and wine reduction. Set a timer for 1 hour and put a lid on it with a small gap. You could add 400g of sliced squid at this point to slow cook and omit the cod. Slow cooked squid is a revelation.

10 minutes before the stew is finished, heat a pan to medium. Add some oil. Put your fish in with some herbs if you have any left over. Let it get nice and crispy – increase the heat if necessary. Cook to taste, depending on the thickness of the fish and how you like it cooked. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and season.

Serve the fish atop the stew and dig in. Its also nice served with some green veg on the side – like kale or fresh uncooked watercress.