Italian fish soup with angel hair pasta
Italian fish soup with angel hair pasta features fresh fish, prawns, porcini mushrooms, and aromatic herbs in a flavorful broth enhanced with tomato paste and lemon. The delicate angel hair pasta complements the light yet richly textured seafood broth, creating a balanced and satisfying meal with varied textures and fresh flavors.
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
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 4 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 658
% 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.