SMOKED MACKEREL CHOWDER WITH HEDGEHOG GARLIC BREAD

Smoked mackerel chowder with hedgehog garlic bread image

Whip up this budget-friendly, creamy fish soup and easy garlic loaf using smoked mackerel and a few store cupboard ingredients

Provided by Cassie Best

Categories Dinner, Lunch, Main course, Soup, Supper

Time 35m

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves , crushed
50g butter , plus a large knob for the chowder, softened
1 small round loaf of bread
1 tsp vegetable oil , for cooking
4 celery sticks, finely chopped, plus a few leaves to serve
1 onion , finely chopped
3 tbsp plain flour
600ml whole milk
2 large potatoes , cut into cubes
200g pack smoked peppered mackerel , flaked
200g frozen sweetcorn

Steps:

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Mash the garlic with 50g butter. Slice the bread first one way, then the other (in a hedgehog pattern), but do not cut all the way through. Stuff the crevices with garlic butter, then wrap loosely in foil, leaving the top open to crisp, and bake for 20 mins while you make the chowder.
Heat a knob of butter in a saucepan with the oil. Tip in the celery and onion, cook for 5 mins or until soft, then add the flour and mix to a paste. Pour in the milk, a little at a time, and cook until smooth and the consistency of double cream. Add the potatoes and half the mackerel, cover and simmer for 15 mins until the potatoes are cooked.
Flake the remaining mackerel, add to the chowder with the sweetcorn and simmer for 1-2 mins until the sweetcorn is cooked. Splash in a little water if it is too thick. Ladle into bowls, scatter over the celery leaves and serve with the bread for dunking.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 838 calories, Fat 36 grams fat, SaturatedFat 15 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 95 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 14 grams sugar, Fiber 7 grams fiber, Protein 30 grams protein, Sodium 2.7 milligram of sodium