← Nouns Cooking · Soup Pot

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 4 Tomato, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tbsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 1 tbsp Dried mint
• ½ tsp Dried marjoram
• 1 Bay leaves
• 100 ml dry white wine (optional)
• 1.5 l Water
• 800 g whole small white fish (bream, snapper or gurnard), cleaned, cut into pieces
• 80 g short-grain rice
• 1 handful Parsley, chopped
• 1 Lemon, half juiced, half cut into wedges
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat and cook the onion and garlic for 6–8 min, until soft and golden.
2. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, dried mint, marjoram and bay leaf and cook for 5 min, until the tomatoes break down. Pour in the wine, if using, and bubble for 1 minute.
3. Add the water and bring to a boil, then lower in the fish, season and simmer gently for 15 min, until the flesh is white and comes away from the bone.
4. Lift out the fish. When cool enough to handle, flake the flesh and throw away the skin, head and bones.
5. Strain the broth back into the pot, pressing on the vegetables. Bring to a boil, add the rice and simmer for 15 min, until tender.
6. Return the fish, add lemon juice to taste and finish with parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

Tips

• Small, bony rock fish give the most flavour; check the broth carefully for small bones when you flake the fish.
• Some Maltese cooks use broken pasta instead of rice.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Oldways