Nigel Barden serves up sea bass soup / tasty sauce with harissa and pink fir apple potatoes on Radio 2 Drivetime with Simon Mayo.

Harissa is a hot chili paste that is commonly found in North African cooking, mainly Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian cuisine. It is added to couscous, soups, pastas and other recipes. It can also be purchased in Middle Eastern stores in a can.

Nigel says: “The soup can be made with commercial harissa, but add saffron in that case. Alternative fish: any kind of medium-oily fish, such as red mullet, sea bass, snapper.”

The ingredients are: 1kg whole sea bass, 90ml olive oil, 1 medium onion, sliced, 1 carrot, sliced, 1 stick celery, sliced, 2 garlic bulb, sliced but not peeled, 2 tbsp Harissa (Rick recommends du Cap-Bon), 400g chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned, 2 tbsp tomato purée, A pinch of saffron threads, Piece of orange peel, 1 tsp salt, 1.5L water, 300g pink fir apple potatoes, or other small waxy potatoes, peeled & sliced lengthways, 10 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal, A small handful of parsley, finely chopped and 1 quantity Aïoli (see recipe below).