Recipe corner: quick fish, mussel and chickpea stew

Stews are generally best made at least 24 hours in advance to allow the flavours to acquire enough depth to make them worthwhile. This one, however, packs in so many flavourful ingredients (including a cheat! Just call me Delia circa 2008) that it can be cooked, eaten and enjoyed on the same evening. We whipped it up while on holiday in Scotland; we had nabbed some beautiful pollock on a sea angling trip and were reliant, for cooking it, on the limited kitchen equipment in our self catering apartment and the limited ingredients available in the local Co-op.

This is rough and ready cooking, so intended as the merest guide. Use whatever fish and/or shellfish you fancy, play with the herbs and spices as it pleases you. I, personally would urge seeking out the pre cooked mussels in sauce such as these because they add an instant additional layer of flavour, but there's still plenty going on here if you can't find them or they don't float your boat.

Ingredients

2-3 pollock (or similar white fish) filleted and cut into large chunks
1 pack pre cooked mussels in garlic and wine

Onion, chopped
Tin of anchovies in olive oil
2 fat cloves of garlic
Tsp tarragon (the freeze dried stuff in a jar)
Tsp paprika
Juice of half a lemon
Large tin of tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
Large tin of chickpeas, drained
250ml stock

2 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
Clove of garlic crushed
Zest of a lemon
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Serves 4-6

Combine the ingredients for the aioli and set aside.

Tip the oil from the anchovy tin into a saucepan and place over a low heat.

Meanwhile, blitz or chop together the anchovies, garlic and dried spices with a hefty pinch of black pepper.

Add the onion to the pan and allow to soften for five minutes or so before adding the garlic and anchovy paste and cooking off for a further couple of minutes. Pour in the lemon juice and allow to bubble down to nothing before adding the tomatoes and stock. Taste, and adjust the seasoning - add sugar as necessary (I find that this tends to be essential to round out the flavour of tinned tomatoes). Bring to a simmer then cover and cook for 15-20 minutes.

While cooking, remove the mussels from their shells, being sure to retain all the lovely sauce, and drain the chickpeas. Add them to the tomato mix, and allow it to cook, uncovered and over a gentle heat, for a further 5 minutes or so, to reduce slightly.

Finally, nestle the fish on top, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until opaque. Stir the fish gently through the sauce before serving, drizzled with aioli, with hunks of crusty bread.