serves
4
prep
25 minutes
cook
1:05 hour
difficulty
Easy
serves
4
people
preparation
25
minutes
cooking
1:05
hour
difficulty
Easy
level
Fish shops often have a lot of spare fish heads and spines, as they are forever preparing the fillets and discarding the rest. Let them know you are making broth and you might get a few free of charge.
Ingredients
- 1 large fish head and spine (or those from several smaller fish)
- ½ carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ white onion, roughly chopped
- ½ celery stalk, roughly chopped
- 2 flat-leaf parsley sprigs
- 1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
- sea salt and ground white pepper
Passatelli
- 130 g (4½ oz) dried breadcrumbs
- 130 g (4½ oz) parmesan, grated
- 2 large eggs
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Wash the fish head and bones and place in a large saucepan. Add the carrot, onion, celery, parsley and tomato and cover with water – you’ll need about 1.5 litres (52 fl oz). Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove the fish pieces and vegetables with tongs, then pass the broth through a very fine sieve or piece of muslin. Pour the broth into a clean medium saucepan and cook for another 15–20 minutes until it has reduced sufficiently and the flavours have intensified – you will need to taste it to determine this. Add salt and white pepper to taste.
- To make the passatelli, place the breadcrumbs, parmesan, eggs, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the fish broth in a bowl and mix well with a spoon or with your hands until it forms a rather stiff but pliable dough. Add a bit more of the broth if needed to bring the dough together. Wrap it in plastic film and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Push the dough through the passatelli maker or the widest plate on your potato ricer to make thick worms of dough, 2–3 cm (¾–1¼ in) long. Take care as they can be quite delicate. If they crumble, you may need to add a bit more broth to the dough. You can easily put the crumbs back into the passatelli maker or ricer if needed and remake them.
- Bring as much broth as you think you will need to a steady simmer (you can freeze the rest). Carefully tip the passatelli into the broth and cook just until they float to the surface – this should be no more than a couple of minutes.
- Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Fish shops often have a lot of spare fish heads and spines, as they are forever preparing the fillets and discarding the rest. Let them know you are making broth and you might get a few free of charge.
