spanish fish & chorizo soup

Ingredients

For the soup

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced

1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked and stalks finely chopped

1 iberico sausage, around 200g, sliced

½ bottle white wine

2 x 400 g tinned plum tomatoes

1 handful basmati rice

400 g tinned chickpeas, drained

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 bream fillets, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger, skinned and pin-boned

2 pollock fillets, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger, skinned and pin-boned

12 raw prawns, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger, peeled, tails left on

2 lemons, cut into wedges

For the pangrattato

2 handfuls breadcrumbs

1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

zest of 1 lemon

Method

Heat a large pan on a medium heat, add a good lug of olive oil, the sliced garlic, chopped chillies and chopped basil stalks. Fry everything together for a minute then add the sliced chorizo. Cook for another few minutes until the sausage starts to brown, then pour in the white wine, tinned tomatoes, rice and chickpeas. Season well and simmer for 10 minutes, until the rice is just about cooked.

Meanwhile, put a frying pan on a medium heat to make the pangrattato. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and let it heat up for a minute or so, then add the breadcrumbs, flat-leaf parsley and lemon zest. Fry for a couple of minutes until it's all golden brown and crispy then put to one side.

After the soup has simmered for 10 minutes, it should have thickened a little, so stir in about 200ml of hot water and bring everything to the boil. Cut each of the fish fillets into three pieces, then, carefully, so you don't get splashed by any of the hot liquid, place them and the prawns into the mixture. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the prawns are pink.

When the fish is perfectly cooked, stir through the basil leaves. Ladle the soup into warm bowls and top each with a nice big spoonful of pangrattato. Serve with a few wedges of lemon to squeeze over the finished dish and enjoy all those gorgeous flavours!