(serves 4)

1/4 C olive oil
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
5-6 small sweet peppers, sliced

1 t dried thyme
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 1/2 t smoked paprika

1/3 C white wine for deglazing

2 pinches of saffron threads, ground in a mortar and pestle

3 C homemade tomato marinara ( if store bought, use a chunky marinara)

2-3 cups seafood stock

4 large new potatoes, cut chunky style and parboiled

3-4 ounces of Spanish chorizo, diced

2 t sugar

1 t salt

3 cod filets

12-14 – 31/40 shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 dozen mussels, rinsed

Chopped parsley for garnish

In a preheated stock pot, add oil, onion, garlic and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and cracked black pepper. Sauté until vegetables soften. Add thyme, red pepper flakes and smoked paprika. Continue to sauté until fragrant and some sticking starts to occur on the bottom of the pan. Increase heat and add wine. Reduce wine down and scrape up any bits which have stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Grind saffron threads. Add about 1/3 C of water. Add saffron water to pot. Add marinara and stock. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and add potatoes, chorizo, sugar and salt.

(Note for potatoes: bring a sauce pan of water to boil and very carefully add 1 t of salt and 1 t of baking soda to water. Lower cut potatoes into water and bring to a boil. Boil for about 2-3 minutes. Drain.)

Add cod filets to the simmering stew. Once the filets start to loosen up and flake, add shrimp and mussels. Cover and continue to simmer until mussels open and shrimp are done. Discard unopened mussels. Serve with chopped parsley and rustic bread for sauce sopping.