One-Pan Skye Fish Stew

We bought the fish off a man at Portree harbour who’d landed it that morning and seemed faintly amused that we were cooking it in a van. This is the stew we made that night, rain on the roof, all the windows steamed up, the best kind of cosy.

The story

The whole point of a recipe like this on the road is that it bends to whatever’s available. Some harbours give you proper white fish; some give you a bag of mussels and a shrug. It all works, because the broth does the heavy lifting and the fish just needs warming through. If you can soften an onion and read a clock, you can make this.

A galley-kitchen tip: get everything chopped and lined up before you light the hob. Two gas rings and a worktop the size of a paperback means there’s no room to be chopping halfway through. Cook like a telly chef, mise en place, and the whole thing comes together calmly even when the van’s rocking in the wind.

Method

1. Warm the oil in your one good pan over a low flame. Soften the onion, garlic and fennel with a pinch of salt until sweet and translucent, about 8 minutes. Don’t rush this bit; it’s the whole foundation.
2. Stir in the saffron or paprika, let it bloom for a minute, then tip in the tomatoes and stock. Simmer gently for 10 minutes until it smells like somewhere by the sea.
3. Lay the fish into the broth, cover, and let it poach for 4–5 minutes until it flakes. Add any shellfish for the last 2 minutes, until the shells open. Discard any that stay shut.
4. Off the heat, shower with parsley and a good squeeze of lemon. Taste, season, and eat straight from the pan with bread if you’ve got it, or just a spoon and a view if you haven’t.