Italian fish soup with angel hair pasta
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
20 mins
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Cook Time
40 mins
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Servings
4
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Calories
658 kcal
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Course
Main Course, Appetizer
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Cuisine
Mediterranean, Italian
Italian fish soup with angel hair pasta
Description
This recipe combines fresh fish pieces, prawn heads and tails, and soaked porcini mushrooms cooked with sautéed onion, garlic, parsley, and tomato paste to build a layered seafood broth. A pinch of saffron adds subtle aroma but can be omitted without loss of flavor. The broth is enriched with vegetable stock and fresh lemon zest and juice, providing brightness.
The addition of very fine angel hair pasta introduces a tender, delicate texture that soaks up the broth flavors without overpowering the seafood. The soup balances the earthy umami from the mushrooms with the freshness of seafood and acidity from lemon.
This dish is served hot as a hearty soup that offers complex depth from the seafood and mushrooms alongside simple, fresh herbs and aromatics. It can be a main course or part of a multi-course meal. The pasta provides enough body to make the soup filling but light enough for a balanced dish.
Options include cooking pasta directly in the broth for convenience, and substitutions like spaghetti or tagliolini can be used. The fish should be cleaned and cut into pieces with heads and tails used to deepen the broth flavor. Leftovers can be utilized thoughtfully as described in the notes.
Ingredients
- 1.75 pounds fish fresh, for soup
- 8 prawns fresh, large shrimps
- 2.1 pints vegetable stock organic or homemade
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic peeled and chopped, cloves
- 1 bunch parsley washed and chopped, fresh
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushroom soaked and chopped
- 1 pinch saffron 1 sachet (0.1g) can be omitted, powder
- 1 lemon for zest and juice
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 7 ounces angel hair pasta or fine spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon butter unsalted
- salt for pasta water and to taste
- black pepper to taste, freshly ground
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients.
- Clean and prepare the fish and prawns as stated in the content above. Then cut the fish into 3-4 pieces. Heads and tails go into the soup too. Remove the heads from the prawns and set aside the tails. The heads go in the soup.
- Put the porcini mushrooms to soak in warm water for 15-20 minutes. Then drain them and cut into small pieces. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Wash and chop the fresh parsley. Zest the lemon.
Make the fish soup/broth
- Sauté the onion, garlic and parsley in 2 tablespoon olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Add the drained and chopped porcini and sauté for another minute or 2. Then add the tomato concentrate (paste). Stir and let it cook a little before adding a small amount of the vegetable stock (½ a cup).
- Add all the fish pieces and the shrimp/prawn heads to the pot. Stir again and mix so they get a little infused with the flavors of the aromatics, mushrooms and tomato paste. Next add the bay leaf, ½ the freshly grated lemon zest and a little salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes.
- Add the rest of the vegetable broth, bring the soup to a simmer, then lower the heat and cook for about 25 minutes o until the fish starts to fall off the bones.
- Pass the fish soup through a fine sieve into another smaller pot. You can discard all the fish and bones, or carefully remove some of the meat and add it back intoto the fish soup. Next add the saffron and stir until it dissolves.
Prepare the pasta and the shrimp/prawns
- Put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil. Then bring to a boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Angel hair pasta only needs 2 minutes of cooking time.
- Melt a little butter in a small frying pan with a couple of peeled and halved garlic cloves. Sauté the prawn tails in the butter and garlic for about 1-2 minutes each side. You can peel the prawns before adding them to the soup or leave them unpeeled.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Drain the pasta well and add it to the heated oil. Stir fry the pasta until it starts to crisp slightly.
To serve.
- Place a portion of pasta in each soup bowl. Reheat the soup, if necessary, then add a ladle or two of soup to each bowl with a couple of sautéed shrimp/prawn tails. Sprinkle more chopped parsley and lemon zest onto the soup and serve with a quarter of lemon for each person.
Notes
- Angel hair pasta may be substituted with spaghetti or tagliolini, cooked separately or in the broth. Adjust broth quantity if cooking pasta in it.
- Saffron is optional; a small amount provides aroma but can be omitted without affecting the soup significantly.
- Have the fish cleaned, descaled, and cut before cooking; fishmongers can prepare it if preferred.
- See additional guidance on handling leftovers and variations as noted.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 4Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 658 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 658kcal | 33% |
| Carbohydrates | 54g | 18% |
| Protein | 52g | 104% |
| Fat | 26g | 40% |
| Saturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 3g | 18% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 13g | 65% |
| Trans Fat | 0.1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 155mg | 52% |
| Sodium | 2023mg | 84% |
| Potassium | 1157mg | 25% |
| Fiber | 4g | 16% |
| Sugar | 6g | 12% |
| Vitamin A | 1150IU | 23% |
| Vitamin C | 23mg | 26% |
| Calcium | 141mg | 14% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.