Couscous Avec Fruits De Mer
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced, fronds reserved for cooking and garnish
- 1 tablespoon fennel fronds, finely chopped
- 4–5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1½ cups white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio
- 2 cups clam juice
- Large pinch saffron threads
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 5 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
- Kosher or sea salt
- Black pepper
- 1½ cups fregola prepared according to package directions
- 12–16 littleneck clams in their shells, scrubbed
- 1 pound mussels in their shells, debearded
- 1½ pounds firm thick white fish such as hake
- ½ pound squid, bodies cut in ½-inch rings, tentacles left whole
- Lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- In a heavy-bottomed stockpot, lightly heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and cook until translucent (very important not to let them brown), about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add fennel fronds, garlic and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables. Cook for 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and let cook until wine has mostly evaporated. Add the clam juice, saffron and crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let the broth simmer on low, uncovered, approximately 30 minutes. Season with parsley, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add 3 cups tomato-fennel broth and fish. Arrange the clams around the fish and cover, watching carefully that the broth doesn’t boil over the sides. When clams begin to open, add the mussels and squid and cover. Once the clams and mussels are fully cooked (all shells are open; discard any that have remained closed), arrange over prepared pasta, garnish with fennel fronds and lemons and serve.
