Finally, it’s here! After months of anticipation and the usual spring tease of warm days followed by weeks of torrential rain, summer has rolled around at last. It’s with a sense of great satisfaction that I pack away my boots and jackets to make room in my wardrobe for floral dresses, espadrilles and wide-brimmed hats.

This seasonal change inspires me to take trips to the local farmers’ market, then get in my kitchen and cook healthy, scrumptious meals for my family and friends. And in the true Italian spirit, I make seafood the centrepiece.

As a child, I fondly remember Mum and Dad coming home from the local market towards the end of June, the start of summer in Italy, with boxes full of sensational produce. My excitement would rise at the sight of fresh seafood, as I knew that in my mum’s kitchen that meant one thing: brodetto, an Italian seafood stew that originated in Abruzzo. An Abruzzese woman through and through, my mum religiously followed the authentic recipe for this seafood-lover’s dish, which featured small, spiny fish as its true star.

The ancient Italian recipe was created by fishermen, who made good use of the small fish and scraps they couldn’t sell by turning them into a wondrous stew.

If you travel to the coast of Abruzzo, you’ll find traditional restaurants that still honour this legacy and serve big pots of bubbling brodetto, brimming with baby monkfish, bream and small mullets. Delicious, but laborious to eat.

For the ease of my guests, and to make sure my children can also enjoy brodetto, I choose instead to feature filleted hapuku, shellfish and tiger prawns, turning a humble meal born out of necessity into a festive show-stopper.

Silvia Colloca’s recipe for show-stopping Brodetto.