Saturday night and what to eat? In this cold weather which suddenly has made me remember that it’s winter and I am not on the equator or in Ecuador! Fish was the main attraction in this one pot dish that was inspired by the shores of the mediterranean. Short of safran, instead I used pimeñton,fennel,garlic  and a full list of good things ,all perfuming the "olla" as well as some herbs de provençe that hinted of lavendar.

Serves 4 ( in this case two people scarfed this bad soup down, no problem!)

1lbs White fish boned skin on( cut into large chunks)
11/2 dozen manila clams
1 dozen mussels
1 small white onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic slivers
3 tomatoes chopped roughly
3 small yukon gold potatoes sliced 1/4 inch
1 carrot small dice
1rib of celery small dice
1 small fennel bulb sliced horizontally
2 tsp olive oil
1tsp piment de espelette
3/4 tsp pimeñton (smoked paprika)
1 cup white wine
1/2 tsp herbs de provençe
salt and pepper to taste
Parsley and scallions chopped to garnish

Make a mirepoix with the onion, carrots, celery.Slice the garlic and add to pot with the olive oil and mirepoix.Sweat the mirpeoix vegetables and add fennel cook till translucent, add in spices and tomatoes.Cover about 5 minutes on a low heat.Season and add potatoes , re-cover pot.Deglaze pot with wine and add in the fish first, cover for a couple of minutes,add in the shellfish and if needed add a 1/4 cup of stock or water if the soup looks dry;the potatoes will absorb a bit of liquid. Cover the pot for another 7-10 minutes, observing if the fish looks like it is flaking and the shellfish have opened up. I like to let the pot sit with the heat off after I have checked the potatoes are done and the fish looks cooked through.Roughly chop some parsley and green scallions and sprinkle on top.
Serve with a olive oil toasted bread that is rubbed with a clove of garlic and of course some good wine.
suggestion and what I had was Sauvignon from Tariquet.