• 75 ml/3 fl oz olive oil 1 onion, finely sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 2 carrots, cut into strips

• 400 g/13 oz can chopped tomatoes

• 125 g/4 oz black olives

• 1 bay leaf

• 4 slices of white bread

• 1 kg/2 lb mixed fish fillets and seafood (white fish, red    mullet, scallops, prawns), prepared or cut into chunks

• 250 g/8 oz mussels, scrubbed

• salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, to garnish

• crusty bread, to serve

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Method:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Add the onion, garlic and carrots and fry over a low heat for about 5 minutes or until soft.

2. Add the tomatoes with their juices, olives and bay leaf and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Simmer gently for 15 minutes.

3. Cut 4 large rounds from the slices of bread. Heat the remaining oil in a small frying pan. Add the bread rounds and fry until crisp and golden on both sides.

4. Remove, drain on absorbent kitchen paper and keep warm. Add the prepared fish and seafood to the stew and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add the mussels and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the shells open. Discard any that do not open. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

6. Put a piece of fried bread in 4 warmed deep plates or large shallow soup bowls and ladle the fish stew over the top.

7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately with plenty of crusty bread.