5-Minute Fisherman’s Stew – Give or Take

Of course this Fisherman's Stew takes more than five minutes to make, and I'm actually referring to the approximate cooking time once the seafood hits the pan, but as they say, it's only false advertising if someone else does it. Besides, one taste and I'm sure you'll forgive any temporal exaggerations. If, that is, you use really great seafood.

A recipe this simple has many advantages. It's fast, easy, and doesn't require a ton of prep, but the downside is, there's nowhere to hide sub-par ingredients. So, unless you're going to splurge on the freshest, sweetest, most pristine seafood you can find, you may want to look for another recipe.

Above and beyond that very critical directive, you'll also want to be sure your brothy base is aggressively seasoned before you toss your seafood in. Since we don't season the fish and shellfish directly, we need to make sure we have enough salt, and whatever else you're using, to go around. Other than that, not much can go wrong, and assuming there's some crusty bread nearby, I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Portions:

• For the brothy base:
• 1 cup crushed San Marzano tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes (if your tomatoes aren't nice and sweet, toss in a teaspoon of sugar)
• 2 cups fish stock, clam juice, or if time are tough, water
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes, or to taste
• For the rest of the stew:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 very thinly sliced fennel bulb
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 8 ounces firm white fish, like halibut or sea bass, cut into 1.5-inch cubes
• 8 peeled and deveined raw shrimp
• 8 ounces cleaned, ready to cook calamari
• 12 mussels, scrubbed clean
• 12 clams, scrubbed clean
• some crusty bread
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