Tomato fish stew is my go to recipe for a quick nourishing dinner that’s full of flavour. I use a tin of sardines to provide all the flavour rather than a fish stock so this recipe is great for using store cupboard tins with the addition of some white fish. Having access to fresh food may be a little bit more difficult at the moment, I used frozen Haddock for this recipe and put it into the stew frozen. Check cooking guidelines if cooking from frozen.

I love garlic so couldn’t resist serving this with garlic toast. I used a thin bit of toasted rye bread, rubbed on raw garlic, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled on some fresh parsley.

Serves 4

1 dsp rapeseed oil

300g of white fish (frozen is fine)

1 tin of sardines

1 medium white onion

1 small fennel bulb (or half a large)

1 carrot

1 tin of chopped tomoatoes

1 punnet (200-300g) of cherry tomatoes (or a tin of chopped tomatoes)

2 tbsp capers

2-3 garlic cloves

1-2 small chillies (optional)

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 lemon

Large handful of fresh spinach, chopped roughly (or 2 cubes of frozen spinach/kale)

Handful of fresh oregano or parsley

Salt and pepper

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil to serve (optional)

Method for making Tomato Fish Stew:

1. Finely slice the onion and fennel, dice the carrot and garlic. Chop the fish into 4 even pieces. Peel 2-3 strips of peel from the lemon.
2. Heat the rapeseed oil in a deep pan, add onions and fry for a few minutes before adding the fennel and carrot.
3. Once the vegetables have softened (about 5 minutes) add the tin of sardines to the pan and fry for a few minutes. Add the garlic, lemon peel, chilli, paprika tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, capers and a can full of water. Bring to the boil then add the white fish and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked.
4. A few minutes before ready to serve add the spinach, squeeze of half a lemon and season. Mix in half of the fresh herbs and save the rest to decorate each plate.
5. Serve immediately with a side of garlic rye toast.