FISH CASSEROLE

admin
Posted by admin September 22, 2021

Their cooking is as delicious as the area is lovely:
Much fish, prawns, shrimps, the best heavy cream and butter I’ve ever tasted.
Their fish casserole was so tasteful that once back home, we decided to cook it on our own, because no restaurant in South of France cooks this dish from North. That’s probably because the southern culinary speciality is the Provencal fish soup.
Fish casserole and Provencal fish soup are both cooked with fish and potatoes but the result is totally different, because we don’t use the same kind of fish (fish and crabs from Mediterranean sea taste totally different than fish from Channel or Atlantic) and more often, people from South cook with olive oil instead of double cream.
Anyway, the fish casserole from Normandy is really worth the trip!
Fish casserole is ready within 2 hours.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredients needed for the fish casserole are 400 gr prawns or shrimps, 600 gr assorted fish from Atlantic (coolish, hake, codfish), 10 cl olive oil, 2 garlic gloves, 1 onion, 300 gr tomato purée, 250 gr mushrooms, half a can lobster soup, 500 gr potatoes, half a bunch parsley, powdered thyme, 400 gr heavy cream, paprika , saffron , salt and pepper. This is for 4 big eaters.

  • 400 Gr Large prawns or shrimps
  • 200 G Mussels without shells
  • 200 Gr Scaled cod fillets
  • 400 Gr Scaled coalfish fillets
  • 400 Gr Scaled hake fillets
  • Half a can lobster soup
  • 500 gr Potatoes
  • 250 gr Mushrooms
  • 300 Gr Tomato purée
  • 400 Gr Heavy cream
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • 1 Onion
  • Half a bunch parsley
  • 10 cl Olive oil
  • 3 Handful powdered thyme
  • 1 Gr Powdered saffron
  • 5 Pinches paprika
  • Salt and pepper as taste

Directions

  1. Wash large prawns and cut heads. Place in 2 separate bowls
  2. Peel garlic cloves, onion and chopPeel onion and garlic, wash parsley and thinly chop.
  3. Wash parsley and chop parsley leaves
  4. Pour 5 Cl olive oil in a large pan, add half of chopped garlic and half of chopped parsley, large prawns heads, pepper and paprikaHeat 5 cl olive oil, add half of chopped parsley,onion and garlic and add shrimps heads. Crush heads and cook for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
  5. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, while crushing the heads to get all the flavors from large prawns. Stir from time to timeDeglaze with 250 ml water, cover and bring to a boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.
  6. Add 250 ml water, cover and bring to a boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.                          fisher-pan-5
  7. Simmer.            Thinly slice potatoes.
  8. Peel potatoes and slice them thinly (2mm)                             Strain stock.
  9. Strain stock using a conical strainerWash and slice mushrooms.
  10. Wash mushrooms and slice them
  11. Pour 5 more cl olive oil, add mushrooms, tomato puree, remaining garlic and parsley,potatoes and lobster soup, 3 handful powdered thyme, paprika, powdered saffron and salt and pepper as taste. Stir and cook over medium heat for 15 minutesAdd all remaining ingredients except heavy cream, fish and shrimps. Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.,
  12. Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes, stir from time to time
  13. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 more minutes. Add a bit water if neededAdd last fish and heavy cream.
  14. Put then double cream, fish, mussels and prawns into juice and cook over high heat for about 6 minutes (depends on size of prawns. Cooking time is for small ones)Serve with a glass of rosé or white wine.
  15. Serve with a glass of white or rose wine, absolutely delightful!