Bouillabaisse is really two soups in one: a flavorful fish stock and a soup made with that stock in which you poach an assortment of fish, shellfish, and shrimp. Thinking about it in this way and divvying up the work accordingly returns what is often perceived as a “hard recipe” to its origins—a simple, fresh-catch seafood soup.
Traditionally bouillabaisse is served with the fish on a platter and the soup in a tureen on the table but I like to keep it in the pot and serve into warm bowls then hurry to the table for grace and cheers and hot soup!
A variety of fish and shellfish make the best bouillabaisse. This bounty was for an extravagant New Year’s batch. One year our friend Robert brought lobster tails!
Rouille is an essential accompaniment, a brick-colored spicy garlic sauce that is sort of a cross between aioli and a romesco without the nuts. It’s easy: in a food processor or powerful blender, combine roasted red peppers (jarred work great, so unless you really like the process of roasting and peeling peppers, go with that), fresh bread crumbs (or baked potato), garlic, something spicy (I use a tablespoon from a tube of harissa that I keep in the refrigerator) and olive oil.
Spread rouille on crostini you’ve prepared from a baguette and float one or two in each bowl of bouillabaisse. Serve with additional baguette and wine; I like a Champagne, rosé, or off-dry white, and especially enjoy a glass while cooking!
Bouillabaisse
serves 6–8; adapted from Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Belle Année on Food52
Ingredients
Soup
- 4 tablespoons olive oil (if you have preserved dried tomatoes in olive oil, this is a great time to use a scoop or two)
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced (reserve fronds for serving)
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- ½ cup white wine
- 8–9 cups fish stock, ideally homemade (recipe linked in headnote)
- ½ teaspoon saffron steeped in 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1 strip orange zest
- 1 pound fingerling potatoes, sliced in half (or into thirds if extra-long)
- 1 tablespoon Pernod liquor optional at finishing
Fish selection
- 2 pounds assorted lean white-fleshed fish (and/or crab, lobster, scallop)
- 12 mussels, rinsed and scrubbed Prince Edward Island
- 12 clams, rinsed and scrubbed littleneck
- 1 pound wild-caught Gulf shrimp, peeled and de-veined
Rouille
- 1 pinch saffron steeped in 1 tablespoon hot water
- ¼ cup roasted red bell pepper, sliced from a jar fine
- ¼ cup fresh bread crumbs ideally from sourdough or baguette
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tablespoon wine vinegar Champagne or Banyuls vinegar
- 1 teaspoon harissa paste
- 1 pinch salt
- 4–6 tablespoons olive oil
Garnish with rouille on baguette crostini and chopped parsley
Instructions
Soup
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Heat olive oil in stockpot over medium heat (if using olive oil from preserved dried tomatoes, remove the tomatoes, slice, and reserve). Add the fennel, onion, shallot, and cook until softened, but not browned, 5 or 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
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Stir in the tomato paste or chopped tomatoes and any reserved dried tomato slices. Cook for a couple minutes, stirring.
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Add wine to deglaze the pan then add the fish stock, saffron-water, orange zest strip, and fingerling potatoes. Bring to boil, lower heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
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Bring soup to a rapid boil about 15 minutes before serving. Add firm-fleshed fish (and crab or lobster, if using), bring back to a moderate boil, cook for 5 minutes then add the mussels and clams and boil, partially covered, for an additional 5 minutes.
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At this 10-minute mark, add tender fish, scallops, and shrimp and gently simmer for 5 additional minutes, uncovered.
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Discard any mussels or clams that have not opened. Taste the broth and decide if you want to add the Pernod or leave it as it is.
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Serve in warmed bowls and float a rouille topped crostini in each, have more available at the table for people to add as they wish.
Rouille (can be made a day ahead)
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Place saffron-water, peppers, bread crumbs, garlic, vinegar, harissa, and salt in a food processor and purée while drizzling in olive oil.
If you have a blender, simply whirr everything together at once, it will still turn out great.
