I have made proper Bouillabaisse in the past, but never posted the recipe as I thought it was too time intensive for most people to bother with when they could have the restaurant version should they ever crave it.
I invented this sauce with the flavors of Bouillabaisse for our family holiday lunch as I wanted something that tasted festive to go with some beautiful cod that I had purchased. I didn't have Pastis and did not want to buy a bottle simply to use a tablespoon worth in a sauce, so added fennel seeds and star anise to the sauce and this worked.
This makes about 2 cups worth of sauce. You could also make this and thin it out with fish stock to make a fabulous fish soup.
1 fennel bulb, shoots and fronds included
2 leeks, whites and greens
5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 Tbsps tomato concentrate
1/2 large can of crushed tomatoes with the juice
1 roasted red pepper (or 1/2 cup from a can of roasted peppers)
1/4 tsp saffron
1 star anise broken into pieces
1 tsp fennel seeds
peel from 1/2 an orange
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 cup vodka or dry white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup fish stock or clam juice or water
Salt and pepper to taste.
Clean the leeks and fennel. Remove all the tough or dried out edges, wash well and chop roughly.
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. As soon as it is shimmering, add the garlic and leeks to the pan and cook, stirring often for a few minutes until starting to soften.
Add the saffron, star anise, fennel seeds, thyme and orange peel to the pan and stir to combine. Salt and pepper well.
Add the tomato concentrate and alcohol to the pan and cook for several minutes more, stirring constantly, to distribute the tomato among the sauce base and to cook off the alcohol.
Nestle the chopped fennel and chopped red pepper among the leek mixture and pour over chopped tomatoes and their juices and the liquid that you are using. Stir to combine well, lower the heat and allow to cook for 30 minutes. Stir every ten minutes or so and try to keep the sauce from boiling away, rather cooking it at a simmer.
I had a friend from the Ivory Coast who would always say that sauce was ready when the oil rose to the surface, which is definitely the case with this sauce. At one point during your 30-minute cooking time you will remove the cover to see that the olive oil forms a slick over the surface of the sauce. When that happens, turn off the heat and let the sauce cool slightly so that you can blend it without fear of burning yourself.
Once the sauce has reached a temperature where you can handle it, place it in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend to as smooth a sauce as you can.
Once you have done this, pass the blended sauce through a sieve, pressing down on the solids to remove as much flavor as possible while aiming for a completely smooth, thick and luscious sauce.
Check for seasoning and reheat before serving with steamed white fish fillets or whole grilled fish. Can be made the day before and reheated.
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