confession #000023

... or, the motherland temptation

as those of you who follow my Facebook page know, I'm back to the motherland - Malta - for a couple of weeks. I suppose, amid the puerile arguments leading up to the general elections, the fact that I get to spend a little extra time with family, friends and colleagues is a redeeming factor.

Heading back to my Mediterranean roots, I couldn't but build up an appetite for all things which remind me of home. The funny thing is that for some odd reason, my main craving was for a champs / sphinx / maxims pizza. Any fellow malteser out there will immediately know what I'm talking about. The champs / sphinx / maxims pizza is a square of dough which doubles up as a sponge, absorbing all the oil from the tonne of shredded cheese that generally blankets the other toppings. Having had my champs / sphinx / maxims pizza fix I made a unanimous decision to opt for the healthier of local fare ...

So tonight I cooked some aljotta, or fish soup. Usually this would be made with chunks of fish - even heads and tails, as apparently these are most flavoursome - but my version is made with seafood.

It is really quite quick and simple and I believe the calorific intake does not exceed 300kcal per portion ... but I need to check and get back to you on that. anyway, for those of you who are tempted, here's the recipe which yields around 3 portions.

ingredients:

250 gr mixed seafood
50 gr long grain rice
1 medium onion (preferably of the white variety as it's more delicate), chopped
1 medium potato, diced
50 gr peas
1 glass of white wine or a couple of shots vodka
1 tbsp tomato paste (kunserva, to us locals)
seasoning: 1 fish cube; salt, pepper, chilli flakes, oregano and/or mint, to taste

method:
Dry fry the onion until it starts colouring
Add wine / vodka and sautée
Add the potato and peas and stir
Season with selected herbs and spices
Dissolve fish cube in 1 lt water and pour over vegetables
Add tomato paste
Add seafood and rice and simmer for 15 minutes

and there you have it ... a simple, healthy fish soup which takes about 30 minutes maximum to put together (unless, that is, you stop every now and again to instagram the process ...)

Let me know if you give this soup a try! oh, and if you want me to share any other recipes, please leave a message in the comments section below.