Fish Stew with Rouille

Name: Fish Stew with Rouille
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 37 min
Total time: 57 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 6 large Prawns; 3 tbs Olive Oil; 150ml Dry White Wine; 200ml Fish Stock; 1 small finely diced Fennel; 1 small finely diced Onion; 3 cloves Chopped Garlic; 1 large Potatoes; 1 Orange; 1 Star Anise; 1 Bay Leaf; 1 1/2 tsp Harissa Spice; 2 tbs Tomato Puree; 400g Chopped Tomatoes; Handful Mussels; 200g White Fish; 2 Thyme; to serve Bread

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Seafood recipe with France flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 59 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 57 min total

6 large Prawns
3 tbs Olive Oil
150ml Dry White Wine
200ml Fish Stock
1 small finely diced Fennel
1 small finely diced Onion
3 cloves Chopped Garlic
1 large Potatoes
1 Orange
1 Star Anise
1 Bay Leaf
1 1/2 tsp Harissa Spice
2 tbs Tomato Puree
400g Chopped Tomatoes
Handful Mussels
200g White Fish
2 Thyme
to serve Bread

Step-by-step instructions

Twist the heads from the prawns, then peel away the legs and shells, but leave the tails intact. Devein each prawn. Fry the shells in 1 tbsp oil for 5 mins, until dark pink and golden in patches. Add the wine, boil down by two thirds, then pour in the stock. Strain into a jug, discarding the shells.
Heat the rest of the oil in a deep frying pan or casserole. Add the fennel, onion and garlic, season, then cover and gently cook for 10 mins until softened. Meanwhile, peel the potato and cut into 2cm-ish chunks. Put into a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins until almost tender. Drain in a colander.
Peel a strip of zest from the orange. Put the zest, star anise, bay and ½ tsp harissa into the pan. Fry gently, uncovered, for 5-10 mins, until the vegetables are soft, sweet and golden.
Stir in the tomato purée, cook for 2 mins, then add the tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 10 mins until the sauce thickens slightly. Season to taste. The sauce can be made ahead, then reheated later in the day. Meantime, scrub the mussels or clams and pull away any stringy beards. Any that are open should be tapped sharply on the worktop – if they don’t close after a few seconds, discard them.
Reheat the sauce if necessary, then stir the potato, chunks of fish and prawns very gently into the stew. Bring back to the boil, then cover and gently simmer for 3 mins. Scatter the mussels or clams over the stew, then cover and cook for 2 mins more or until the shells have opened wide. Discard any that remain closed. The chunks of fish should flake easily and the prawns should be pink through. Scatter with the thyme leaves.
To make the quick rouille, stir the rest of the harissa through the mayonnaise. Serve the stew in bowls, topped with spoonfuls of rouille, which will melt into the sauce and enrich it. Have some good bread ready, as you’ll definitely want to mop up the juices.

Why this works on a weeknight

Fish Stew with Rouille lands at about 57 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Quick Soups & Stews collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Fish Stew with Rouille actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥣 Quick Soups & Stews Seafood France Fish Seafood Shellfish