(a main course soup for 4)

1 kg (2 lbs) Monkfish
500g (1 lb) Mussels
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 Head Fennel
1 med Onion, peeled
2 glasses dry white wine

Aioli;
2 egg yolks
2 cloves garlic
250ml mild olive or sunflower oil.
Juice of one lemon.

First make the aioli.
Crush the garlic into the yolks and then dribble on the oil, beating all the time until you have a thick glossy sauce. Beat in the lemon juice.

Slice the fennel and onion thinly and and fry these gently together until soft.
Keep warm.

Trim the skin from the monkfish and all the small bones but leave the flesh on the main backbone of the fish.
Use the little bones and the skin with a pint of water to make a light fish stock, boil this for just twenty minutes then strain and keep.

Wash and beard the mussels, put these into a pot with the white wine, lid them and boil hard until all the mussels have opened.
Put these somewhere to cool and then remove and discard the shells and strain off the juice and mix this with the fish stock.

Cut the monkfish on the bone into half inch slices.
Cook these in a pan with some olive oil until lightly browned then keep these and the mussels somewhere warm.

Put the fish stocks and mussel juices into a pan and boil up together.
While this is boiling whisk in the aioli until it is all blended.then take off the heat but continue beating for a minute.

To serve put a spoonful of the fennel and onion in the bottom of four large soup plates.
Put the monkfish and mussels on this and then ladel over the aioli and stock soup.
(or you can put the fennel and monk fish on a plate and serve the soup on the side in a bowl)
Serve with plenty of fresh bread.