CookEat Recipe
Mullet Broth Soup with Toasted Bread
Strained mullet broth flavoured with a tomato soffritto, small vegetables and dried mushrooms, poured over toast.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 whole grey mullet weighing at least 1 kg before cleaning, scaled and gutted by the fishmonger; About 2.5 litres water, or enough to cover in a close-fitting pan; Half an onion; 2 garlic cloves; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; 1 carrot for the broth base, plus half a carrot for the finishing vegetables; 1 celery stalk for the broth base, plus half a stalk for the finishing vegetables; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 3 tablespoons plain tomato passata; 10 g dried edible mushrooms; 300 g bread; Salt and black pepper to taste; Grated Parmesan to offer separately.
Step 2
Use fresh food-grade grey mullet from a reputable fishmonger. Place the cleaned fish in a close-fitting pan with the water and bring gently to a simmer. Cook until the thickest flesh reaches 70°C and flakes easily, roughly 15–25 minutes depending on thickness. Lift out carefully and strain the broth through a fine sieve. Remove all bones from the fish and reserve its meat for a separate dish.
Step 3
Finely chop the onion, garlic, parsley, the whole carrot and the whole celery stalk. Cook in the olive oil with salt and pepper until beginning to colour. Add the passata, then the strained fish broth, and simmer about 15 minutes. Strain again, pressing the cooked vegetables gently and discarding coarse solids.
Step 4
Soak the dried mushrooms in hot drinking water until soft, rinse away grit and chop. Cut the remaining half carrot and half celery stalk into small pieces. Simmer them with the mushrooms in a little of the strained broth until tender, about 10–15 minutes, then return this mixture to the main broth.
Step 5
Toast the bread in slices and cut into cubes. Put in a tureen, pour over the boiling broth with its small cooked vegetables and mushrooms, and serve immediately with Parmesan offered separately. The fish meat is not added to this soup.
Step 6
Serve the reserved boneless fish separately while hot, or refrigerate promptly in a shallow container and use within 2–3 days. Reheat refrigerated cooked fish to 74°C. The source also allows ombrina, sea bass or monkfish in place of mullet; have the fishmonger provide cleaned food-grade fish suitable for broth and follow the same cooking, straining and deboning steps.
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