Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Quick and easy fish stew
Fennel gives this tomato fish stew a gentle aromatic edge that suits the sweet prawns. Tender leeks settle into the broth around the pieces of pollock. A bowl with plenty of sauce is especially inviting, with little bits of vegetables in each spoonful.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Original yield
- Serves 2
- Ingredients
- 10 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Dinner · Lunch · Main course
- Primary protein
- Seafood
- Cuisine
- Spanish · Mediterranean
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: 31–60 minutes
- Dish type
- Stews · Soups & stews
A few quick notes
1. Soften the first vegetables
Cook the carrots, celery and garlic with fennel seeds until they begin to soften before adding the leeks.
2. Reduce before seafood
Let the covered vegetable simmer slightly thicken and reduce the sauce before adding fish and prawns.
3. Seafood goes in last
Add the pollock and scatter the prawns over the cooked vegetable base for their final cook.
Get to know the ingredients
Pollock
Use skinless pollock cut into chunks, thawing it first if you start with frozen fillets.
Prawns
Start with raw shelled king prawns so they can cook directly in the finished vegetable sauce.
Fish stock
Have the fish stock hot and simmering when you add it to the leeks and tomatoes.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 2. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 2 steps completeMake room for Quick and easy fish stew
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Ladle the finished stew
Ladle the cooked fish, prawns and vegetable sauce into bowls and serve with spoons for the broth.
A little more help as you go
Cover the simmer
Cover after the tomato and stock mixture boils, then simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Slice the leeks thinly
Thinly slice the leeks so they can soften among the tomatoes and diced vegetables during the simmer.
A few questions you might have
Does the fish cook through the whole simmer?
No, cook the vegetable sauce first, then add the seafood for its short final cooking stage.
Should the carrots be left in large pieces?
Dice the carrots and celery so the vegetables fit comfortably among the fish chunks in each bowl.
When do the fennel seeds go in?
Add them to the oil with the carrots, celery and garlic at the very start.
Do the prawns need peeling before cooking?
Yes, use shelled prawns so they are ready to eat once the stew is ladled out.
What should the vegetable base look like?
The vegetables should be tender and the sauce slightly thickened and reduced before the seafood is added.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: bbcgoodfood.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.