Mediterranean Seafood Feast in a Tomato/saffron Broth
Tonight, I give you one of my favorite meals I haven’t made in ages. A Mediterranean Mini-Seafood Feast in a Tomato/saffron Broth. You can use any seafood you want. I always include shrimp so I can use the tails & shells to make my seafood stock. This can also be used to cook mussels or clams. Just put them in when you bring it to boil and simmer. Discard any that don’t open.
Fresh herbs and homemade seafood stock are critical to make this wonderful.
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (2 for each skillet).
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 teaspoons fresh oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar to release aroma
A teaspoon saffron
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon fresh orange zest
Mushrooms if desired, tonight I had some shitake
I/2 pound tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups Seafood Stock (water, carrots, onion, celery, black peppercorns, tails & shells from the shrimp, bay leaf. Simmer an hour)
Freshly ground pepper.
8 jumbo shrimp
8 scallops
1 fillet of haddock
Fresh parsley, finely chopped, for garnish
Start with the broth/sauce
Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the thyme, oregano, fennel, saffron, garlic, and orange zest, and cook, uncovered, until the garlic begins to release its aroma, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, salt, and pepper, mushrooms and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile..heat up a skillet, pan sear the seafood, shrimp, fish and scallops. Add to the sauce right before they are complete.
In the last few minutes I added a package of Heaven Nature faux white rice. I placed it in a pile of the sauce. Once warmed through, I plated this heart-of-palm rice in the center of a wide soup bowl, topped this with the broth/sauce and put the seafood on top. Garnish with parsley.
The rice tasted and had the mouth feel of real rice, but zero carbs. HUGE find! This helps make this a very healthy meal.
Serve it with toasted bread crostini if you like. Lots of good juice to sup up.
