I don't know what to call this except for a fish stew.

First, I have to apologize for the lame pictures. Unfortunately my camera died (permanently), so until I can afford to replace it with a lovely DSLR camera, you will have to deal with the crappy cell phone pictures. :-)

This recipe came from "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy". I think I've said it before, but, buy this book! It's filled with fabulous recipes, and I find myself cooking from it regularly.

You'll want to make your pasta first. It's a pretty simple 1lb of flour to 1.25 cups of very cold water, kneaded, and left to rest for a half an hour. Roll it out, cut it into large diamonds, or really whatever shape you like. Set your cut pasta on a cookie sheet to dry out while you cook dinner, but make sure the pieces don't touch each other or they will stick together something fierce. As in, you won't be able to separate it unless you tear it.

For this dish it's really important that you have all of your ingredients prepped, which is to say "mis en place". Things tend to move fairly quickly in some places, so you want to be prepared.

You will need:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb red potatoes, diced into a .25" cube
2 tbs tomato paste
2 medium stalks of celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 lb skinless fish of your choice (I used Mahi Mahi last night and it was better than the last time when I used a pretty delicate tasting fish, so I would recommend something with a stronger taste)
2 ripe medium sized tomatoes, cut into 1" cubes
3 qts of water

Now, since I generally only make this for me and my hubby, I only use some of the pasta. Too much is overwhelming, I think. I just chuck the rest in the freezer for another time.

So, you'll want about a quarter of a cup or so of good extra virgin olive oil. Set your large heavy bottomed (preferably enamelware, like Le Creuset or similar) pot over a medium heat and put in your olive oil and onions, sprinkling a good four finger pinch of salt on top, stirring to mix. Once your onions have softened, add in your cubed potatoes. When those begin to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, clear a space in the middle, and put your tomato paste right in the hot spot and leave it for a moment or two. Stir your paste in with your onions and potatoes. Add your bay leaves and celery, get everything hot, and then add in 3 qts of cold water. Stir one more time, put your lid on, bring your heat up to high, get your stuff boiling, and then reduce your heat to a steady perk. Let this go for 30-40 minutes.

When your 30-40 minutes have passed, uncover, and drop in your fish and tomatoes. Leaving the lid off, let your stew go for about 15 minutes, or long enough for your fish to cook through and your tomatoes to fall apart into the stew. Add your pasta right to the pot, and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Serve and eat immediately.