Fish Soup with Tomatoes and Red Pepper-Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

• 8 cups bottled clam juice 
• 2.5 pounds lingcod fillets cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1  fennel bulb coarsely chopped
• 1  french-bread baguette cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 3  garlic cloves 
• 6 tablespoons olive oil extra-virgin
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 6 inch long strips orange peel 
• 1 cup parsley fresh italian chopped
• 1  bell pepper red
• 1 large red-skinned potato quartered
• 1 pound red-skinned potatoes peeled cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 1 large pinch saffron threads 
• 3 pounds tomatoes ripe peeled coarsely chopped

Equipment

• bowl
• baking sheet
• ladle
• pot
• broiler

Directions

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion and fennel. Sauté until onion is translucent, 8 minutes.
3. Add stock, parsley and peel. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until fennel is tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, sliced potatoes, quartered potato and saffron. Cover partially; simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Remove quartered potato from soup. Cool slightly. Peel potato; transfer to processor.
7. Char bell pepper over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Enclose pepper in paper bag 10 minutes. Peel and seed pepper. Cool.
8. Transfer bell pepper to processor with potato.
9. Add 2 tablespoons oil and garlic. Process until smooth. With machine running, gradually blend in 4 tablespoons oil. Season with salt.
10. Preheat broiler. Arrange bread rounds on baking sheet. Broil until crisp, about 2 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover soup and rouille separately; chill. Cool toasts, then store airtight at room temperature. Bring soup to simmer before continuing.)
11. Add fish to soup. Simmer until fish is just opaque in center, 5 minutes. Spoon rouille onto 12 to 16 toasts. Ladle soup into bowls. Top each with 2 toasts. Pass remaining toasts and rouille.