Serves 4-6

• 1kg live mussels, cleaned with any dead mussels removed
• about 12-15 large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
• 150g fresh prepared squid, cut into bite-size pieces
• 300g cod (or other white fish) fillet, cut into chunks
• 6 rashers smoked, streaky bacon, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 500g fish stock
• 1 bottle dry white wine
• 3 sticks of celery, finely chopped
• 2 onions (1 red 1 white, but not essential), fairly finely chopped
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced or crushed
• a few dashes of tabasco (optional)
• 1 large handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Lots of crusty bread!

This sounds more complex than it is – it’s actually a straightforward one-pot meal and the timings are loose.  The most important thing is not to overcook the fish at the end. Here, I’m adding the prawns along with the mussels, but if they’re not particularly large I would put them in a minute or two later.

Don’t forget the crusty bread!