Seabass & Seafood One-Pot

I recently bought three packs of seabass fillets on a £10 deal at M&S. I put two packs in the freezer and, as Husband and I adore fish stew, I made this simple yet delicious one pot dish for our supper with the third pack. Even in the dead of winter the flavours instantly transport you to the Mediterranean. As it is reasonably low in fat, I served it with wedges of fresh crusty bread to mop up all the wonderful ocean-fragranced juices (ooops! Getting a bit Nigella-like with my florid descriptions, sorry.)

Sea Bass & Seafood Italian One-Pot

Ingredients – serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 fennel bulb, halved and sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
½ red chilli, chopped
250g cleaned squid, sliced into rings
bunch basil, leaves and stalks separated, stalks tied together, leaves roughly chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
150ml white wine
2 large handfuls of mussels or clams
8 large raw prawns (whole look nicest)
4 sea bass fillets (about 140g/5oz each)
crusty bread, to serve

How to prepare

Heat the oil in a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, then add the fennel, garlic and chilli. Fry until softened, then add the squid, basil stalks, tomatoes and wine.

Simmer over a low heat for 35 mins until the squid is tender and the sauce has thickened slightly, then season.

Scatter the mussels and prawns over the sauce, lay the sea bass fillets on top, cover, turn up the heat and cook hard for 5 mins.

Serve scattered with the basil leaves and crusty bread.

If, like me, you love seafood, why not try this Creamy Seafood Stew recipe?