You need:
- an onion
- a stick of celery
- 1 clove of garlic
- half a red pepper
- half a yellow pepper
- 1 carrot
- a potato
- salt
- olive oil
- a fillet of white fish ( haddock, monkfish, cod, hake... )
- a handful of prawns
- one squid ( frozen squid is normally very good if you cannot find fresh ones)
- a handful of clams (this is optional, as many children do not like them - mine just do)
Put a pan on the heat. Add the olive oil. Then add all the vegetables cut into cubes. After 5 minutes (when they start getting brown) lower the heat so that they soften. When they are soft ( after another 5 to 8 minutes) add the white fish. Let the fish fry with the vegetables for 3-4 minutes and then take it out and reserve it. Add the salt, parsley and the bay leaf. Add 500 ml of water, bring it to the boil and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Take the bay leaf out, add the fish back to the soup and liquidize it all with a hand held blender (or in a food processor) until you get a smooth soup.
Separately heat a flying pan. Cut the squid into smalls squares, add them to the pan (without any oil) and as soon as they harden (after 1-2- minutes) take them out and add them to the soup.
Then cut the prawns into small squares. Add a tiny bit of oil to the frying pan and add the prawns. Wait for one to two minutes until they get a coral colour and add them to the soup too.
Finally, add some water to the frying pan ( half a glass should do) Add the clams and wait for a couple of minutes until they open up. Discard any clams that have not been opened. Take out the molluscs (discard the shells) and add them to the soup. Then get the liquid of the clams through colander ( in case they have spelled any sand) and add the liquid to the soup.
The children helped with all of it and enjoyed seeing the seafood changing its texture with the heat. Otherwise I am afraid they found preparing the soup a bit boring.
