Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron

Fish Stew with Peppers, Almonds and Saffron

(recipe courtesy of Food & Wine May 2007, page 103)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sweet Pimenton dela Vera (Spanish smoked paprika)
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups dry white whine
One 14 oz. can crushed Italian tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water (I used bottled clam juice- you could also use fish stock, but I'm too lazy to do that!)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads crumbled into 2 tablespoons of hot water)
1/4 cup salted roasted almonds
1 dozen littleneck clams (I used Manila clams), thoroughly scrubbed
1 1/4 pounds monkfish, trimmed of silver skin, meat cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Heat the olive oil in large, heavy casserole. Add the onion, bell pepper srips and garlic and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and cover over moderatly high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary, paprika and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Simmer until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water (clam juice) and saffron water and bring to a boil. Cover the casserole tightly and cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes.

2. Finely grind the almonds in a food processor. Stir the almonds into the stew and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the clams, cover and cook until most of them open, 5 - 10 minutes. Add the fish and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the fish is cooked through, 2 - 3 minutes. Discard the bay leaf (I left mine in). Transfer to bowls and serve.

Serve with : Crusty bread (or rice. Wait, I don't mean crusty rice! Regular rice!)

Wine: A Spanish wine, perhaps an Albarino.

Mmm...for a first attempt, it came out pretty good. I was able to find the monkfish and clams at Nijiya. Next time, I need to really grind the almonds because some pieces were still kind of "nutty".