Italian-Style Fish Stew Recipe (2024)

Chef Pace, excuse me if this seems like a silly question, but how can I tell if fish is just about to flake? As someone who loves fish but has had her share of disasters, I'd welcome some advice.

This is really a great stew, to which almost any seafood can be added. Only change I recommend is removing the lemon slices after the seafood has been marinated. Leaving the lemon slices to cook with the fish gave the resulting sauce a bitterness that comes from the lemon pith. The flavor of lemon can easily be enhanced with the addition of lemon zest or juice.

Cooking fish and clams at 450°F is sure to overcook both of them. I'd bring the broth to a boil, lower to a simmer to cook for 15 minutes, then bring it back up to a rolling boil and pour it over the seafood in the casserole. Lower the heat to 250°F and cook it only until the clams open and the thinnest edge of the fish flakes when you press it gently. It will continue to cook, but with the lower temperature, you have a chance to serve the fish before it's overcooked.

Overall, a good dish. I added a small fennel bulb, two carrots and two celery stalks finely chopped, to the original recipe, and also a pound of shelled, deveined shrimp, and a half pound of calamari. The sauce was delicious, but after adding the marinated fish and lemon slices, it took on a strong bitter flavor from the lemon peel and pith. I would make this again but NOT add the lemon slices to dish with the fish.

when fish flakes easily, it's a sign that it's overcooked. most people overcook fish, it's ready just before the point of flaking.

This is incredibly good and so easy to prepare! Living in the Pacific Northwest provides interesting options. I used Rockfish, Halibut, and tiny brown-striped clams. Didn't want to use water or all chicken broth so I used a bottle of clam juice... I know, but it turned out great. Toasted the fennel before grinding it. Thank you!

Why not add the fish/clams to the pot from Steps 2 & 3 and bake. Would eliminate the baking dish.

I use to cook this recipe, fish, shrimps ,clams, whatever I have from sea. When it is almost finish I use a little of Pernod. It makes a lot of difference. Try it. Besides that I make the stock, from the head, tail.etc. from the fish or shrimps.

What a great dish for the fall. I skipped the baking dish and used a Le Creuset Dutch oven which worked like a charm. I doubled the amount of clams. It was a big hit with the family.

and why not simmer in that pot on top of stove?

That was an error. Add the remaining thyme in step 3 with the garlic, saffron, etc. We've updated the recipe.

This dish is marvelous for a number of reasons... Ease of prep & cooking, taste and the "wow" factor of placing this on the table for your guests make it a new favorite for me. I ramped up the sofrito by adding red and yellow peppers. As we were celebrating a birthday, I added mussels, shrimp & lobster to make the dish a bit fancier. Served with saffron rice and shaved castelvetrano olives.

Wonderful but I would replace the fennel seed with 1/2 sauted fresh fennel. Adds freshness

Terrific dish, but the baking didn't work for us. The fish cooked, alright, but the clams didn't open. I removed the fish, transferred the broth and clams to a wide pan on the stove, and boiled it until they were done. Next time, I'll forget the oven and cook the dish on the stove--fish first, then clams.

Loved this dish. The broth is exquisite. I had the same problem as others with the clams and will start them on the stove next time.

It's one of my favorite home cooked meals in recent history. I took out about 1/3 of the lemon when cooking from the reviews about bitterness. No one in my family found it to be bitter. Next time, I'll just cook with the whole lemon.I used 28 oz can of whole tomatoes and 2 cup of fish stock. Delicious!

Delicious broth - very flavorful, and the red pepper flakes gave it a kick. I was nervous that the fish would overcook and the shellfish wouldn't open. The fish (I used hake) was delicious and flaky. Thankfully, I added mussels and scallops since I was serving for 8, because the steamer clams never opened, despite following the recipe (time, temp, etc.). I'd steam the clams separately and just lay them on top at the end. (I also had some leftover roasted red potatoes that I chopped and added.

Add more clams. 2x

I added green pepper and spinach. Next time I’ll add some mussels and toast more fennel seeds.

This dish was a big hit, but it was helpful reading the community notes. In particular, I removed the lemon slices after the seafood had been marinated. I used sea bass and removed all of the pieces from the casserole after ~10 minutes in the oven and set aside while while I baked the clams until they all opened (I had to simmer the casserole on the stove top to get the last few clams to open). Lastly, I used large clams per the recipe, but think smaller would be better.

I baked this in the oven as the recipe suggests. The fish came out beautifully- the clams took a lot longer than the fish, I suggest giving clams a 10 minute head start. If they are done before you add the fish you can always scoop them out and re-add for the last few minutes. We found they took at least 20 minutes to open . I also substituted fresh fennel for celery (because I didn’t have any) and one leek for an onion (kept the other onion). Added a Dungeness crab . It was so delicious!

Definitely did not use the oven. Couldn’t see how that would improve the recipe. I made the soup base a day in advance to let flavors develop overnight in the fridge. Marinated fish and scallops overnight. Left clams in salty water overnight to clean them out. Then next day three fish scallop and marinade and clams in and simmered on the stove top until clams opened. Delicious and not overcooked fish.

Used hake, littleneck clams, and threw in some shrimp a few minutes before I completed cooking. Used a dutch oven from start to finish, and 3/4 of the lemon in the stew. It took 25 minutes for the clams to open. Going forward, I would put in the clams at least five minutes before the fish, which I believe broke up a bit due to cooking time. Fish did not feel overcooked. Extremely flavorful broth with a kick due to the red pepper flakes. Highly recommend. Rated it five stars.

Can absolutely be done on a stove top. If done on a week night with fish only, needs a bit of "oomph". Fennel seeds and fennel would be good; clam juice probably great.

Made this evening for my family and it was delicious. I made the broth as per the recipe with the addition of a small, minced fennel bulb, sautéed with the onions.For the seafood, I used 150g cod per person 3 large shrimp per person, the cod simply added in to the simmering soup (on the stove) for 5 minutes and the shrimp for two minutes. Simple, easy, and everything was cooked to perfection. A delicious and perfect dinner with a chewy, warm garlic bread baguette.

The suggestion to bake at 250 is way too low for clams to open. Follow the instructions as to the heat, but check the doneness of the fish every ten minutes. My lemon slices didn’t cause any bitterness as mentioned in a review. In fact, it was a great touch. I also always add thinly sliced and steamed Yukon golds into the pot, and peeled and thinly sliced peppers sautéed alongside the garlic into the sofritto.

Made as is, except for a few anchovies just because I couldn't help myself. V delicious

I used monkfish and shrimp tonight - the fish held together nicely, and remained tender. I roasted the fish and shrimp (with marinade - lemon juice, no rind) in a baking dish in the countertop convention oven - 15 minutes did the trick - while the broth (to which I added carrots and celery) reduced a bit on the stovetop. Tossed in a handful of steamed, shucked soft-shell clams at the end, along with the fish/shrimp. Finished with chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon, and a drizzle of olive oil

I also had the problem of needing to extract the clams to boil separately to open. I followed someone's advice to use boiling soup and a lower (250 degrees) oven, but that didn't work on the clams. Very tasty, great ingredients, but I've got to experiment with clam options.