Spanish seafood stew

I love this recipe! It is such a crowd- pleaser comfort dish if your guests like seafood. Try to buy good quality ingredients for this, as it really makes the dish shine.

Ingredients (serves 6)

1 large/ 2 small white onion, chopped
1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled and sliced
2-3 red chillies, chopped- depending on how spicy you like it
1 red pepper or 2 long romano peppers
80g chorizo or nduja (optional)
1 tsp tomato paste
150ml white wine
2 cans of good quality chopped tomatoes
2 lemons- 1 juiced and one cut into wedges to serve
2 tbsp paprika
A pinch of saffron (optional)
1.5 tbsp sugar
1 stock cube made into 200 ml water
500 g potatoes, peeled and chopped into bitesize pieces
500g of mussels- I got the readymade pouch (see picture below)
500g raw white fish- I used cod
200g cooked king prawns
1 large handful parsley, finely chopped

For the aioli:

5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 lemon, juiced
200g mayo
Salt

Fresh bread to serve

Method:

1.In a large pan, heat up a few tsp of good quality olive oil.

2. Add in your onion, plenty of garlic, chilli and red pepper. Fry for 5 minutes on a low heat until softened.

3. Then add in the chorizo/ ‘ndjua if using. If using ‘nduja, breaking it up a bit in the pan. Add the tomato paste. Cook for a further few minutes, to release the oil.

4. Add the white wine on a high heat and allow to cook for a few minutes, to burn off the alcohol.

5.Then add in the 2 tins of tomatoes.

6. Add in the lemon juice, paprika, saffron, sugar and stock. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Add in the potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.

8. Now the sauce is ready, time to cook the seafood. Place your cod in the sauce and cook for a further 15 minutes in total (with the lid on) on a a low heat. I brought cooked prawns, so added these in 5 minutes before the fish was cooked, to warm them up. I also cooked my mussels separately in the readymade pack in the microwave, so added the cooked mussels in with the prawns.

9. Top the stew with the chopped parsley and serve with a lemon wedge.

10. To make the cheats aoli, in a blender or pestle and mortar, add the garlic, lemon juice and salt. Pound or blend until chopped. Then add in the mayo and pound or blend again until combined.