Chef Boyd's Mediterranean Fish Soup from Topped Chef

Table set with Cod Soup

LUCY BURDETTE: I have a confession on today's post--although I put this recipe in TOPPED CHEF, I had never made it myself. I had certainly eaten it--my friend and excellent cook Tim Boyd served it and I was wowed. So I asked if I might include it in the third Key West mystery.

 A couple of weeks ago, I was discussing getting together with some good friends, the Charkows, and as usual, we argued over who had hosted whom last. 

"I need you to come here," I said after a few times back and forth, "because I have to make this recipe for the blog." 

"What exactly is a blog?" Carol asked. 

Lucy with friends Carol and Jay, plus Tonka

But in the end, they came and I made Tim's codfish soup. Everyone declared it delicious! You'll see below that there are two steps--first the chunky basil sauce, then the soup. I made it the day before and added the fish at the last minute. We served it with toasted baguette slices that had been brushed with olive oil. 

Mediterranean Cod Soup


Chunky Basil Sauce
Plus one additional can (35 oz) of crushed or diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped onions
1 ½ lb fresh cod cut into two inch chunks
2 green zucchini cut into 1/2” dice
¼ cup sliced black olives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon (I omitted this)
2/3 cup white wine
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 cup water (optional) (or a little more broth to thin)

Add the crushed tomatoes to the chunky basil sauce along with the onions, zucchini, olives, wine and stock. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is soft. Add water or stock to the desired thickness. At this point the soup can sit overnight (and the flavors usually improve) or longer if chilled.

Recipe for Chunky Basil Sauce:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 teaspooon each: dried oregano, dried basil, garlic and salt
1 (35 oz) can Italian whole tomatoes

Heat oil and sauté shallots, onions and spices. Pour off about 1 cup of the liquid from the tomatoes and set aside. Chop the tomatoes coarsely and add to the oil/spice mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer for 35 minutes or so. If sauce gets too thick, add a little of the reserved tomato liquid.

To serve:

Heat the soup to serving temperature and add the cod chunks. The cod will cook quickly so test every few minutes. When the cod is done, remove the chunks with a slotted spoon and place in the serving bowls. Ladle soup over the top. 

Hayley Snow invites Lorenzo the tarot card reader to lunch in Topped Chef. She decides she’ll serve him Mediterranean fish soup. Here’s how it goes:

Once the half-frozen tomato sauce was warming in a pan, I began to dice zucchini, black olives, and onions while Miss Gloria cut the ciabatta into thick slices and brushed them with olive oil. Adding the vegetables to the pan with two-thirds cup of white wine and chicken broth, I brought the sauce to a simmer and cut the grouper into chunks. While the bread toasted, Miss Gloria finished setting the table.

“Do you think he’ll read our cards?” she asked. “I’ve never had it done. I’m a little nervous.”

I didn’t tell her I was nervous, too. I’d never seen Lorenzo as a civilian. Or cooked for him. But more than that, the last time he’d read my cards, I’d almost lost my mother. I realized that somehow the two things had started to get twined up in my brain: tarot and danger.

It's me Lucy again. I had planned to make a lime sponge cake for dessert, but my favorite bakery 4 and Twenty Blackbirds is next door to the fish shop. I couldn't resist their lovely orange sponge cake with lemon glaze--I served with a fruit salad. Yummy!

Please follow Lucy on Facebook and Twitter And order the Key West mysteries right here!

Three Fish Soup

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I love weird recipes like Magic Peach Cobbler.  Not oddball food so much.  I'll leave the bugs and stinky things to Andrew Zimmern, but unusual methods of preparation fascinate me.  This recipe caught my eye because it involves pouring boiling liquid over the other ingredients instead of mixing everything before bringing it to a boil.  The boiling liquid works well because fish cooks quickly.  It gives you a head start on the cooking process.

I stumbled upon this recipe for fish soup ages ago.  The original recipe is long gone, but the ingredients are so simple that it's not hard to remember.  This is an ideal recipe for someone new to cooking because the only way you can goof is by overcooking it.

If memory serves, the original recipe called for boiling water to be poured over the ingredients.  I found it more flavorful if I added seafood bouillon to the water.  To my surprise, my gigantic Kroger (seriously, you don't want to forget anything because it's a long hike from one side of the store to the other) didn't have any seafood bouillon.  Plenty of chicken, beef, and vegetable bouillon, but nothing for seafood.  So this time around, I made it with chicken broth, which worked out fine, but didn't give it that additional fishy kick.

It's a very mild soup and makes a lovely light lunch or dinner.  If you're one of those people who loves spicy food, it might not be the soup for you.  On the other hand, nobody's stopping you from tossing in some jalapenos!

You can use any combination of fish that you like, which makes it at least slightly economical because you can use whatever is on special.  However, it works best with fish that hold up well to cooking.  Delicate fish that flakes very easily might not be the best choice.  Monkfish is ideal.  I used cod, monkfish, and shark.  Mixing the fish adds to the flavor and also provides different textures.

Peeling the potatoes is up to you.  I used red-skinned potatoes and left the peels on.

Three Fish Soup

1 leek
3-4 medium potatoes
1 1/2 pounds mixed fish (approximately)
6 cups chicken broth, or water and seafood bouillon
salt and pepper to taste

Pour the broth (or water and seafood bouillon) into a pot and heat to a boil.

Meanwhile, slice the firm end of the leek into slices and place in a large soup pot.  Cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes and add to leek.  Slice the fish into 1 inch cubes and add to pot with leek and potatoes.

Pour the boiling liquid over the ingredients and bring everything to a boil.  Gently boil approximately 20 minutes or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the fish is cooked through. (Do not overcook or the fish will become tough.)

Serve with crusty bread and a wedge of cheese, and enjoy!  Can be made ahead of time and reheated, but be careful not to overcook the fish.