Red Gurnard Soup Recipe
by Tom Brown
4
1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients

Red gurnard soup

  • 4 whole gurnards, including 500g of bones for the soup
  • 2 white onions, roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 red pepper, roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 1/4 red chilli, halved
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised
  • 10 vine tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tsp tomato purée
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 1 orange
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper

Gremolata

  • 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp of chopped rosemary
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 200ml of olive oil, preferably Croatian
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
2
Fillet the fish, allowing two fillets per person, and set aside in the fridge. If asking your fishmonger to do this for you, ensure they also give you the bones from the fish
  • 4 whole gurnards, including 500g of bones for the soup
3
Arrange the bones on an oven tray, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in the oven for 20–30 minutes until the bones are dry, roasted and browned
4
At the same time, arrange the onions, carrots, pepper, chilli and garlic on a separate tray, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven until golden and caramelised, for around 30 minutes
  • 2 white onions, roughly chopped into inch pieces
  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped into inch pieces
  • 1 red pepper, roughly chopped into inch pieces
  • 1/4 red chilli, halved
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised
5
Meanwhile, arrange the tomatoes on a separate tray and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Pop them in the oven at the same time as the vegetables and fish bones and cook for 30 minutes
  • 10 vine tomatoes, halved
6
Place all the roasted ingredients in a large pan with the tomato purée, bay, rosemary, orange zest and orange juice
  • 1 tsp tomato purée
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 1 orange
7
Add enough water to just cover and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour
8
Remove from the heat and pass through a moulis or food mill. Alternatively, mash all the ingredients thoroughly with the back of a ladle or meat mallet and pass through a colander, pressing through as much liquid from the fish bones and vegetables as possible
9
Using a high-power blender, blitz the strained liquid for 3–4 minutes to achieve a super smooth consistency
10
Pass through a fine sieve and season to taste with salt and pepper
11
Remove the fish from the fridge to come up to room temperature while you make the gremolata
12
Using a sharp knife, peel the lemons, remove any white pith, and chop the zest finely. Chop the garlic and rosemary to the same consistency and combine with the olive oil in a small bowl
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp of chopped rosemary
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 200ml of olive oil
13
When you’re ready to cook the fish, place a large non-stick pan on a medium-high heat. Add a dash of olive oil to the pan and season the skin lightly with salt. Place each fillet skin-side down and hold down firmly to ensure an even cooking of the skin
14
Leave to cook for 2–3 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and turn the fillets over to cook though in the residual heat
15
Heat the soup up and divide evenly between bowls. Add two fillets per person and finish with a generous drizzle of the rosemary gremolata