Aegean kakavia (Beautiful fish stew)

This Mediterranean fish stew is made by Greek fishermen; it's a versatile recipe and you can use whatever fish you like for your perfect fish stew.

Ingredients

• 1 litre vegetable stock, preferably organic
• olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 beef tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 3-4cm chunks
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 700g fresh fish fillets (see introduction), scaled and pin-boned
• juice of 1 lemon
• ½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (15g), roughly chopped
• ½ a bunch of fresh dill (15g), roughly chopped
• Greek extra virgin olive oil
• a loaf of rustic bread, to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat a good lug of olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not coloured.

2. 2

   Add the tomatoes, potatoes and bay leaves and pour in the stock. Season lovingly with sea salt and black pepper and bring it all to the boil. Reduce to a low heat and simmer for 15 minutes. At this point, add your fish fillets and bring back to the boil, then reduce to a medium-low heat and simmer for a further 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the fish is cooked through and flakes apart. Stir in the lemon juice and herbs, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, then have a quick taste to make sure you've got a good balance of acidity, freshness and seasoning and serve with chunks of rustic bread.