This is very fast to do, but really quite lovely; it helps if you have a good fishmonger, like the very fine ones Robin Moxon runs by Clapham Common tube station or on Lordship Lane in Dulwich. The carrot spaghetti adds a lovely sweetness to the fishy consommé and isn’t really optional. Because it’s so quick to make, it’s good for both posh dinners for friends and everyday food, if you can pop by the fishmonger on the way home. It’s a great way for people who hate raw oysters to enjoy these luscious seafood gems.

2 carrots

70g butter

500ml Vegetable Nage or Stock, heated through

3 star anise

150g baby clams, washed and cleaned of barnacles

150g mussels, washed and cleaned of barnacles

3 tbsps dry white wine

8 oysters, removed from their shells, the juice saved in a cup

4 large scallops, removed from their shells, each cut in 3 horizontally

2 tbsps double cream

Juice of half a lemon

2 heaped tsps shredded fresh basil

• Cut the carrots into long thin spaghetti – like strips on a mandolin or Japanese slicer or with a very sharp knife. Melt the butter in a small pan, add 3 tablespoons of Vegetable Nage and bring to the boil. Add the carrot strips, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Set aside

• Heat the rest of the Vegetable Stock till boiling, and add the star anise. Take off the heat and allow to infuse for 10 minutes. Discard the star anise

• Heat a large heavy bottomed pan and add the mussels, clamp on the lid tightly and cook for one minute. Then add the clams and the wine, put the lid back on and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking occasionally – the pan, not you – until the shells open. Dump any that haven’t opened. Strain the juice off into the Vegetable Nage pan. Set the seafood aside

• Reheat the Vegetable Nage to a light simmer and add the scallops and the oysters and cook for 1 minute. Add the clams and mussels, then stir in the cream, lemon juice and basil. Season to taste

• Divide the seafood between four soup bowls, and pour over the hot soup. Top with the carrot spaghetti and serve with lovely bread