Photograph: Jonathan Gregson
Although pangrattato – literally 'grated bread' – was used for centuries in Italy as poor man's parmesan, you wouldn't know it from this delicious recipe by Sam Harris for Sainsbury's magazine
For the stew, heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently cook the fennel and onions for about 20 minutes on a low heat until very soft. Finely chop the garlic, anchovy and chillies. Toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant; set aside.
Add the chopped garlic, anchovies and chillies and the fennel seeds to the fennel and onions. Increase the heat and cook for a few minutes, stirring all the time.
Add the tomatoes, wine and 300ml water; season and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
To make the pangrattato, whiz the stale bread in a food processor to breadcrumbs. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic, chilli and parsley, and cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes, stirring all the time. Add the breadcrumbs and, keeping the heat high, stir constantly until the breadcrumbs are crisp and golden. Tip into a bowl and add a few gratings of lemon zest; season. Wipe out the pan with kitchen paper.
Cut the fish into chunks. Add the fish chunks, mussels, prawns and chickpeas to the tomato sauce; gently stir to combine. Turn up the heat to high, then cover and cook for 5 minutes until the fish is just cooked through.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Blanch the broccoli for about 2 minutes – you want the florets to still be a little crunchy; drain. Heat the remaining olive oil in the cleaned frying pan, add the broccoli and a splash of water and stir until hot. Tip into a serving bowl and sprinkle with the pangrattato.
Once the fish is cooked, discard any mussels that don't open. Stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with the broccoli pangrattato and plenty of crusty bread.
Get ahead: make the stew up to the end of step 3 up to 3 days ahead; chill. Make the pangrattato a day ahead; store in an airtight container. Blanch the broccoli a few hours ahead.