Cornish Red Mullet Soup with Crispy Croutons and Rouille Recipe

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Prepare the red mullet by removing the heads and filleting each one - you will get 2 fillets from each fish. Remove any small bones with fish tweezers. Cut the fish heads and the bodies in half. Reserve the fillets for cooking later on. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pan and fry all the fish bones and heads over a medium to high heat until golden brown.

Heat 2 more tablespoons of the oil in a separate large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, fennel, celery and leek and cook over a medium heat until softened. Stir in the garlic and chilli and cook for a few more minutes. Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the saffron threads and browned fish bones. Pour in about 1 litre of water and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes.

While the stock is simmering, make the croutons and rouille. For the croutons, lay the bread triangles on a baking sheet, drizzle over the oil and melted butter and toss together so the bread triangles are evenly coated. Toast in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Take them out of the oven, sprinkle with parsley and cut each triangle into two smaller triangles.

Make the rouille by mixing the mayonnaise with the garlic and the infused saffron and water. Add a few drops of Tabasco, then add lemon juice and salt to taste.

Next put the soup in a jug blender in batches and pulse for a few seconds to help break up the bones. Strain the soup through a large sieve into a saucepan, pressing with the back of a spoon to encourage all the flavour out. Add the Pernod and keep the soup warm.

Lastly heat up a small frying pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Season each red mullet fillet with salt and pepper and fry for 1½ minutes, skin-side down, then flip over and cook for a further 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and leave in the pan.

To serve, ladle the soup into individual bowls. Place 2 fillets of red mullet in each bowl, skin-side up. Thickly spread the crouton triangles with the rouille and lay 1 in each bowl. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.