Speedy Summer Fish Stew
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Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins
In this doddle of a dinner, plump pieces of mixed fresh fish go for a splash in a rich tomato sauce flecked with sweet fennel, fragrant summer basil and seasonal new potatoes, brightened with a zingy squeeze of lemon.
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481 kcal
(per portion)
Ingredients you'll need
  • 1 onion
  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 250g new potatoes
  • 400g chopped tomatoes
  • A handful of basil, leaves only
  • 340g fish pie mix
  • 1 lemon
From your kitchen
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 200ml hot water
Step by step this way
  • 1.

    Peel the onion and finely slice it. Trim the base and any woody tops off the fennel bulb (keeping any wispy fronds for later in the recipe). Halve the fennel and finely slice it. Peel the garlic clove and crush or finely chop it.

  • 2.

    Pour 1 tbsp oil into a large pan and warm over a medium heat. Slide in the onion, fennel and garlic. Sprinkle in 1 tbsp fennel seeds and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for 10 mins, stirring occasionally, till softened.

  • 3.

    While the onion and fennel are frying, scrub the potatoes and chop them into small dice.

  • 4.

    Stir the potatoes into the pan. Pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes. Half-fill the empty tomato tin with hot water (about 200ml) and swirl into the pan. Drop in half of the basil leaves. Stir well to mix. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 10-15 mins, till the potatoes are tender.

  • 5.

    Stir the fish into the stew. Cover the pan and continue to cook for a further 5 mins, till the fish is cooked through.

  • 6.

    Squeeze the lemon juice into the stew. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed. Divide the stew between bowls and serve, garnished with the remaining basil leaves.

  • Tip

    Green means go
    If any lemons in your box look a little on the green side, fear not! They’re called Verdelli, and are every bit as lemony as their yellow cousins. Some lemons are forced to turn yellow through gassing with ethylene, but that’s not very organic now, is it? We like our lemons just as they are.

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