Fish and White Bean Chowder with Fennel and Leek

General Fast With Fish Published August 02, 2026

A chowder without cream, which turns out not to be a compromise at all. The body comes from white beans blended into the broth — they make it thick, pale, and silky, and they add protein where cream would only add fat.

Fennel and leek are the aromatic base, cooked slowly until sweet and soft. Fennel with fish is one of the oldest pairings in Mediterranean cooking, and the anise note is what keeps a potato-and-fish soup from tasting flat.

Add the fish at the very end and let the residual heat finish it. Fish simmered in soup for ten minutes falls apart into threads; fish poached for four minutes off the boil stays in clean flakes.

FASTING LEVEL: Fast With Fish
SERVINGS: 6
TIME: 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leeks, white and pale green parts, sliced and washed well
- 1 large fennel bulb, diced (fronds reserved)
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup (120ml) dry white wine
- 700g waxy potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 5 cups (1.2L) fish or vegetable broth
- 2 x 400g cans cannellini beans, drained (divided)
- 700g firm white fish (cod, haddock, pollock), cut into 1.5-inch chunks
- 200g smoked fish (optional but excellent), flaked
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and white pepper
- Reserved fennel fronds and chopped dill, to finish

METHOD

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium. Add the leeks, fennel, and celery with a good pinch of salt. Cook 12-15 minutes, stirring often, until completely soft and sweet without browning. Low and slow — this base decides the soup.

2. Add the garlic, crushed fennel seeds, pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Cook 1 minute.

3. Pour in the wine and simmer 3 minutes until mostly evaporated.

4. Add the potatoes and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes until the potatoes are just tender.

5. Meanwhile, blend one can of the beans with 1 cup of the hot broth from the pot until completely smooth. Stir this purée back into the soup — it will thicken immediately and turn the broth opaque and creamy.

6. Add the second can of whole beans and simmer 5 minutes.

7. Season the soup properly now, before the fish goes in: salt, white pepper, and lemon juice. It should taste finished.

8. Turn the heat down so the soup is barely steaming, no bubbles. Slide in the fish chunks, cover, and let them poach 4-6 minutes until just opaque. Do not stir — stirring breaks the fish.

9. Add the smoked fish, if using, and let it warm through for 1 minute.

10. Remove the bay leaves. Serve in wide bowls with fennel fronds and dill, and bread on the side.

NOTES

- The bean purée is the whole trick. It works in any chowder — corn, potato, clam — wherever cream would go.
- Add 400g of mussels or clams in the last 5 minutes, covered, until they open.
- Salmon or trout work but change the character; keep to white fish for a classic chowder.
- Reheat gently. Boiling ruins the fish. Warm just to steaming.