Provençal Fish Stew

This is a wonderful recipe. After making this dish many times, I have settled upon an additional 8 ounces of cubed cod or turbot and cut the amount of spinach to 1/2 lb.

My wife isn't a big fan of chic peas, so I substituted cannelini beans and added some fresh clams. Toasted baguette slices to soak up the broth and a good wine and life was good.

Doubled the recipe. Several problems. 1) Bread crumbs absorbed almost all the broth. It was fish in sludge 2) Provencal flavors were virtually undetectable. Needed double the olives, capers, anchovies and garlic. And sun-dried tomatoes would help. 3) A half cup of white wine in the broth or a slug of Pernod in the finished dish would help conjure aromas of Marseille. Next time half the bread crumbs, or none at all.

I thought a pound of spinach would be too much. It wasn't. I substituted bay scallops for the squid, and it was great. It is unnecessary to chop the anchovies as they will disintegrate into the sauce as it cooks in very short order. Fresh bread crumbs are essential (vs. canned or dried) and are easily made in a mini-food processor.

Used a frozen pack of “seafood medley” sold by Whole Foods, and crab stock I had saved from steaming Dungeness crabs. With a good squeeze of lemon at the end, it was a superb seafood stew.

I've made this several times and love it. I use cooked chickpeas and occasionally add some cod and bay scallops. Love the flavor that the capers, olives and anchovies provide.

In a traditional bouillabaisse, the soup is served with slices of bread (toasted, I think) spread with rouille (a garlicky mayonnaise). And I like bread crumbs in soup to give it some body. I think you could leave the crumbs out and serve the soup with toasted slices of French bread, but I think the seasoned, toasted bread crumbs here would add a nice touch.

Love this recipe. I have made adjustments based on other cooks' suggestions, namely adding a little less spinach, adding an equal amount of cod loin and also including small white northern beans as well as the chickpeas. The white beans add a creamy texture to a wonderfully flavoured base.
The dish is a real taste and texture treat!!

Guest had shellfish allergy, so I substituted cod and rock fish. Also started with a little sausage, instead of olive oil, to give it a little more body. Rave reviews! Will make again and again. So easy, hearty and warming on a cold night.

Loved this recipe, which has given the status of "guest worthy" in our house. I used monkfish, shrimp and just a little bit of squid (due to family preferences). Other than that deviation, followed recipe closely and thought it worked out deliciously, without too much time spent cooking, which is honestly important to me. Not sure it was worth making the fresh breadcrumbs, but that was ok. Also added just a bit of cumin at the end, feeling the broth needed a bit of something...

I suspect this might work well with a thick flakey white fish like cod, which I would prefer, particularly to the shrimp...

This is a great recipe, except that 1 cup of breadcrumbs seems excessive, especially if it is being used just as a sprinkle. A table spoon (or two) per serving is sufficient, otherwise the breadcrumbs soak up the broth and thicken the stew. Rest of the recipe is fantastic!

Great depth of flavor in the broth with olives, capers, and especially anchovies. I too only used 1/2 of the spinach since the calamari and shrimp are really the stars here. This is so quick to pull together and would be great as an antipasti before dinner.

We used Kale too because of spouse’s aversion to spinach. Also added 8 oz of firm white fish and a zucchini, but otherwise followed recipe. I doubted the reason for the bread crumbs but made them anyway, and glad I did. It adds a texture to the soup that thickens the broth a bit and gives each bowl a “crust”, which we enjoyed. Used two chile de arbol peppers with seeds that gives it just the right heat. Will definitely make again!

I used two cups of fish stock (store bought) and the stew was waaaaaay too salty, so next time I'd use water or half water and half stock. Otherwise it was a nice combination of flavors, although as someone else noted it lacks a bit of complexity. As others suggested, I used an additional eight ounces of fish (cod cheeks.) I subbed out the squid for scallops as the fishmonger was out of squid. Both worked well. Not a total wow but easy and relatively healthy, so I'd make it again.