Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh had everyone at River Cottage smiling over pouting with this punchy soup
Watch the video of the River Cottage team making pouting soup
Serves 8
Hugh says: "If you have time to salt the pouting lightly before you begin this recipe, it will firm up the flesh and season it nicely. However, salting isn't essential, especially with very fresh pouting. Scatter a teaspoon or so of coarse sea salt in the base of a wide, shallow plastic or ceramic dish (don't use metal, which can react with the salt). Place the pouting fillets, skin-side down, on top and dust them with another 1-2 tsp coarse salt. Leave for 5-10 minutes in the fridge, depending on the thickness of the fillets, then rinse the fillets thoroughly and pat dry with kitchen paper."
1. First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic and sweat gently for a couple of minutes until just starting to colour. Add the tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar and simmer gently, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring from time to time, until the volume has reduced by about half. Pass the tomato mixture through a sieve to remove the pips and skins.
2. Heat a splash more oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chorizo and fry gently until lightly coloured. Add the sliced garlic and onions, the celery and the fennel seeds and sweat down gently for 10 minutes.
3. Add 250ml of the tomato sauce to the chorizo pan, along with the fish stock. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
4. Cut the pouting fillets off the skin, removing any bones you come across, then slice the flesh into large chunks. Add the fish to the tomatoey soup. Simmer gently, just until the fish is done - about 3 minutes. Season to taste and ladle into warmed bowls. Sprinkle with parsley or dill and serve.
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