Ciorbă de șalău, Romanian pike-perch soup

Ingredients

• 3 l water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium carrots (140 g)
• 2 small beetroot (200 g)
• 1 medium parsley root (100 g)
• 150 g trimmed green beans
• 1 small broccoli (200 g)
• 4 medium zucchini (800 g)
• 2 medium tomatoes (250 g)
• 1 medium red bell pepper (150 g)
• 1 bunch green onions (100 g)
• 4 pike-perch steaks (600 g)
• 1 chili pepper
• 200 ml tomato purée
• 15 g parsley
• 1 zucchini blossom

Preparation

1. Wash and clean the vegetables. Cut the carrots, beetroot and parsley root into cubes, trim the green beans and get the other vegetables ready to cut. 2. Put the water, carrot, beetroot and parsley root cubes, green beans and salt in a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are almost tender. 3. Break the broccoli into florets, slice the zucchini, dice the tomatoes and bell pepper, then chop the green onions. Add them to the pot along with the pike-perch steaks and cook for 7 minutes; the vegetables should stay whole, and the fish should just begin to flake easily. 4. Slice the chili and add it along with the tomato purée, parsley and zucchini blossom. Cook for 2 more minutes, just until the blossom softens and the tomato purée is heated through. 5. Turn off the heat and leave the soup covered for 10 minutes before serving.