Name: Moroccan Fish Stew
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 1 large yellow onion; 1 tbsp O-Live & Co. Organic Olive Oil; 1 potato; 2 inch piece of fresh ginger; 4 cloves garlic; 2 tbsp flour; ½ of a preserved lemon, minced with seeds removed; 1 tsp harissa; 1 zucchini; 1 yellow squash; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp pepper; 1 tsp paprika; 3 bay leaves; 1-16oz can tomato puree; 4 cups vegetable stock; 2 tbsp cilantro, minced; 2 tbsp parsley, minced; ½ lb shrimp; ½ lb cod; ½ lb clams or mussels; ½ lb scallops; (optional) baguette to serve with

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This Moroccan Fish Stew is loaded with O-Live & Co. olive oil, a blend of fresh seafood and lots of Moroccan herbs and spices. Served with toasted bread it makes the most delicious and hearty dinner ever!

This post was sponsored by O-Live & Co. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This recipe was inspired by my dad. He used to make this soup for me every Winter with a crusty, toasted piece of bread, rubbed with fresh garlic.

Ingredients

This Moroccan fish stew requires a few special ingredients, so screenshot this list before you head to the store:

yellow onion
O-Live & Co. Organic Olive Oil
potato
fresh ginger
garlic
flour
preserved lemon, minced with seeds removed
harissa (Moroccan chili paste)
zucchini
yellow squash
salt
pepper
paprika
bay leaves
tomato puree
vegetable stock
cilantro, minced
parsley, minced
shrimp
cod
clams or mussels
scallops
(optional) baguette to serve with

See recipe card for quantities.

When selecting ingredients for this recipe, quality is really important. In every detail from the seafood (fresh is best) to the olive oil!

Today I'm using O-Live & Co.'s Organic olive oil, one of my favorite oils to use on a daily basis. The company's commitment to sustainability paired with the high quality, organic taste makes it the perfect base for this stew.

Instructions

Start by chopping the onion finely adding it to your large soup pot with olive oil over medium heat.

While the onions are sweating, prep the rest of your ingredients. Chop the squash, zucchini and potato into bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic and ginger.

Once the onions start to appear translucent, you can toss in the chopped potatoes and sauté for a few minutes. At this point, the flour gets sprinkled over the onion and potato and mixed around to coat them.

Next, add in the preserved lemon, harissa, squash, zucchini, salt, pepper, paprika, ginger, garlic, and bay leaves. Sauté all this together for a few more minutes before adding in the tomato puree, stock and herbs.

Bring everything to a boil over medium high heat and cover.

Cook the broth and veggies until fully cooked through. You will know this is done when the potatoes are fork tender.

This means it's time to add in the scallops, fish, mussels or clams and shrimp, cover, kill the heat and allow things to cook with the residual heat.

Hint: you will know the seafood is cooked fully when the clam or mussel shells open completely. Toss any shells that don't open up.

At this point you're ready to serve and garnish with some extra herbs, toasted bread, and a drizzle of olive oil!

Substitutions

As mentioned above, there are a few special ingredients called for in this recipe. That said, you can still make this Moroccan Fish Stew successfully with a few simple substitutions. Read on for notes on that...

Harissa - this delicious Moroccan chili paste adds a great deal of flavor but can be left out completely if you can't find it
Preserved lemon - swap the juice of 1 fresh lemon for ½ a preserved lemon if you can't find them
Fresh seafood - sometimes finding fresh and quality seafood isn't the easiest task. Use what you can find/what you like and don't stress if you can't find all 4 of the types I used in this recipe

Since my dad shared this recipe with me years ago, I've made many different variations, all equally delicious. Don't be afraid to adapt the recipe and ingredients based on what is accessible to you!

Variations

As always, there are many ways you can tweak this recipe to please all the different eaters in your home. Here are some of my favorite variations:

Spicy - double the quantity of harissa required to give your Moroccan fish stew an extra kick or leave it out completely to tame it down for a more sensitive crowd
Deluxe - top your stew with crusty garlic croutons for a fun added texture
Kid friendly - depending on the taste buds of your kiddos, you can stick to a few kinds of seafood you know they love and skip the rest

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.

I recommend using a good quality, heavy bottomed soup pot for this recipe.

Storage

Make sure to always purchase your seafood the day you plan on cooking when possible. Store any leftovers of your Moroccan fish stew in the fridge in an airtight container. Do not microwave the mussel or clam shells (remove the meat from the shell if heating with a microwave.)

Enjoy leftovers within 1-2 days.

Top tip

Pay attention to your seafood once you add it to the pot to make sure it doesn't overcook. Covering and turning off the heat allows the residual heat to cook everything through perfectly. The clams or mussels should open up and the shrimp should be pink.

Happy cooking!

Salima