Recipe: rustic Italian-style fish soup, prawn bisque

These seafood soups take minimal preparation. The result is delicious comfort food guaranteed to impress.

Rustic fish soup. Styling: David Morgan. Photography: Guy Bailey.

These seafood soups take minimal preparation. The result is delicious comfort food guaranteed to impress.

Rustic Italian-style fish soup

2 tablespoons olive oil | 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and finely chopped | 2 sticks celery, finely chopped |1 small brown onion, finely chopped | ½ teaspoon dried oregano | Pinch crushed dried chilli | 450g cleaned squid, sliced into 5mm rings, tentacles halved | 1 cup dry white wine | 2 x 400g cans chopped or crushed tomatoes | 3 cups fish stock | 300g mussels, scrubbed | 650g skinless white fish fillets, cut into 3cm pieces | 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley | Grated zest ½ lemon

Heat oil in a large saucepan and add fennel, celery, onion, oregano and chilli and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add squid and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add mussels, cover and cook until shells have opened. Add fish and cook for 3-4 minutes. Spoon soup into deep bowls. Combine parsley and zest and sprinkle on top. Serves 4-6

Creamy prawn bisque

20g butter | 650g small prawns (in the shell, heads on) | 1 onion, chopped | 2 leeks, sliced | 1 stick celery, chopped | 1 medium carrot, chopped | 2 cloves of garlic, crushed | 250g white fish fillets | ½ cup dry white wine | 80g arborio rice | 2.5 litres fish stock | 1 bay leaf | 2 sprigs thyme | 100ml cream

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat and fry whole prawns, onion, leek, celery, carrot and garlic until vegetables soften. Add fish, wine, rice, stock, bay leaf and thyme; bring to the boil. Simmer very gently for about 40 minutes. Blend until smooth; strain through a sieve. Season to taste. When ready to serve, add cream and return to just under the boil. Serves 8