Halibut and Saffron Soup Recipe

Halibut and Saffron Soup ~ wine, saffron, lemon, dill and fish come together to make a healthy and delicious Scandinavian soup, the golden color is fabulous.

Halibut and saffron soup is so unique!

Saffron is such an interesting ingredient, but so hard to describe. I wish I was one of those people who can take a sip of wine and come up with ‘mossy’ or ‘muscular’ right off the bat, but I’m not. The flavor and aroma of saffron is wonderful, but  I’m at a loss to describe it. It’s officially said to have a slightly bitter, ‘hay-like’ flavor, which doesn’t really do it justice, but I can’t give you an alternative. It’s one of those times where words aren’t relevant. I love that.

It’s no secret that I love fish, and chowders and soups are some of my favorite ways to enjoy it. 

This recipe is a version of a classic Scandinavian soup. It has a base of wine, stock and cream and a generous amount of saffron to give it a distinctive flavor as well as color. I accented mine with dill.

I came across baby parsnips at the market yesterday, so they went into the soup, along with leeks, onion, and fennel. The pale vegetables provide flavor, texture, and a neutral base for the color of the saffron to shine through.

This soup isn’t thick and heavy like a chowder, but the cream gives it substance. It’s the perfect late summer early fall dish. I would have served this soup with Buckwheat Biscuits, but I was out of buckwheat flour, so I made plain biscuits. Crusty bread would be great as well.

I highly recommend this soup, and I’m definitely going to do more experimenting with fish and saffron. Salmon would work here as well, and you can vary the vegetables. This is a winner in my book, I hope you try it.

Halibut and Saffron Soup

4.05 from 22 votes

Halibut and Saffron Soup ~ wine, saffron, lemon, dill and fish come together to make a healthy and delicious Scandinavian soup, the color is fabulous!

Print Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time:15 minutes minutes

Cook Time:45 minutes minutes

Total Time:1 hour hour

Servings: 4

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 small bulb fennel, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch baby parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups stock, fish is best, I used chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 big pinches saffron
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice, (1 large lemon)
• 3/4 lb halibut filet, cut in bite sized chunks
• 1/3 cup fresh dill leaves

Instructions

• Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Sauté the vegetables in butter for about 15 minutes, until they start to soften.
• Add the wine to the vegetables, then the water, stock, bay leaves and saffron. Crush the saffron between your fingers as you add it. Season with salt and pepper and bring up to a simmer. Cook gently for about 15 minutes,
• Add the cream, tomato paste, and lemon juice, and bring back to a boil. Check the seasoning, and then add the halibut and dill. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. The fish will gently poach in the heat of the soup. Let sit for about 15 minutes.
• At this point you can serve the soup, or, better yet, let it cool and refrigerate it for a few hours to give the flavors a chance to develop, then reheat gently before serving. Be sure to taste it to adjust the seasonings, and throw on some fresh dill sprigs at the last minute.

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: Scandinavian

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: fish, fish soup, gluten free, halibut, healthy

Nutrition

Serving: 1 · Calories: 483 kcal · Carbohydrates: 16 g · Protein: 19 g · Fat: 34 g · Saturated Fat: 21 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 9 g · Trans Fat: 0.5 g · Cholesterol: 139 mg · Sodium: 1198 mg · Potassium: 860 mg · Fiber: 3 g · Sugar: 8 g · Vitamin A: 2336 IU · Vitamin C: 21 mg · Calcium: 115 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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