Delish Fish Dish

15 minutes, plus 3 hours cooking time

 

This recipe is a variation of fish stew, but fish stew sounds boring. My son refuses to eat anything called ‘stew’, but he ate this with relish! This can be prepared first thing in the morning and then left in the slow cooker on low until you get home, at which point you will have a tasty, healthy meal ready and waiting.

You will need

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil* £2.50/750ml

100g frozen chopped onion or 1 chopped onion* £1/500g

1 cube frozen garlic/1 teaspoon garlic salt/1 garlic clove, crushed* £1.27/80g

2 tins chopped tomatoes* 31p/400g

1 tablespoon tomato purée 48p/200g

4 white fish fillets, frozen £2/500g

100g frozen chopped vegetables 75p/1kg

1.5l water

1 kallo organic free range chicken stock cube* £1.08/66g

2 teaspoons dried dill £1.66/10g

2 teaspoons dried basil 61p/14g

pinch of chilli powder 80p/44g

ground black pepper

63p per serving

1 Heat the oil in a large stockpot over a low heat. Add the onion and garlic. Do not let them brown, as this makes them bitter, just keep an eye on them until they have become soft and shiny.

2 Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato purée, followed by the frozen chopped vegetables. Stir to combine.

3 Add stock cube, dill, basil and chilli powder. Grind some black pepper over the top, to taste, and stir to combine.

4 Add the fish fillets and enough water to cover.

5 Slowly bring to the boil over a low heat and let the stew simmer* over a very low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally. Top up with water if necessary.

6 Serve with mashed potato, crusty bread, rice or dumplings.

TOP TIPS

*Extra virgin olive oil tastes the nicest in this dish, but vegetable oil will do

* I buy frozen crushed garlic. It is ready and waiting when you need it, with zero wastage. 

* I use organic free range chicken stock cubes by Kallo, but ordinary chicken stock cubes will do. Kallo stock cubes have a lovely taste but ordinary chicken stock cubes are cheaper.

* Simmering means bubbling gently – not so much that it is vigorous bubbling, but just enough so that the bubbling is continuous

* Children like to sprinkle grated cheese on the top. I personally love a sprinkling of some very tasty herbamare.

* Tomatoes are one of few foods whose nutritional value improves with processing. Tinned tomatoes contain more vitamin E and more lycopene (which may help prevent cancer) than fresh tomatoes. They are also available year round.

* If tinned peeled plum tomatoes are cheaper than tinned chopped tomatoes, get a small kitchen knife and chop them inside the tin. Because they’re already soft, you can do this quite easily by moving the knife from one edge of the tin to the other and then moving the tin round to make sure they all get chopped. Do it over a plate or chopping board as the juice can spill.