Cioppino

Serves 4

With the holidays coming, this is an easy and festive dish that feels fancy.  You can add or subtract any fish or seafood you prefer.  For instance, you can add king crab legs or calamari, or you can make this a pure fish stew with three different kinds of firm white fish and no shellfish.  We Italians eat this dish every Christmas eve when we traditionally do not eat meat.  

Ingredients

·      Olive oil

·      1 Vidalia onion, halved and then sliced

·      1 fennel bulb, fronds and stalks removed, then halved and sliced

·      ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

·      6 garlic cloves, chopped and divided

·      ¼ cup tomato paste

·      1 8-ounce bottle clam juice

·      3 cups fish or chicken stock

·      1 ½ cups dry white wine

·       1 28-ounce jar of chopped tomatoes

·      2 bay leaves

·      1 teaspoon dried oregano

·      1 teaspoon dried thyme

·      1 small bunch fresh basil, torn

·      Salt and pepper to taste

·      1 dozen little neck clams (you could use mussels, but I prefer clams)

·      1 pound firm white fish such as cod or halibut, skinned and chopped into 1-inch chunks

·      1 pound baby scallops

·      1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined

·      1 loaf crusty Italian bread or French baguette

·      Butter

·      3 tablespoons fresh parsley

·      Lemon zest for garnish, you’ll use about 1 lemon total

·      More red pepper flakes for the table

Heat oil in a large, heavy stock pot or Dutch oven and add sliced onions and fennel.  Let cook over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring often.  Add red pepper flakes and 4 cloves garlic and cook one minute more.  Add tomato paste and stir until paste is toasted, about 1 minute.  Add clam juice, stock, wine and tomatoes and stir.  Add bay leaves, oregano, thyme and basil and lower to a simmer.  Cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.  This will allow the soup to thicken a bit.  Stir it every so often and adjust with salt and pepper. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F or put your broiler on. Slice the bread and slather with butter and the rest of the garlic. Place on a cooking sheet and bake or broil until toasted.

Add clams and let cook until open, about 10 minutes.  Five minutes in, add the fish and break it up a little as it cooks. Five minutes later, when the clams open, add the shrimp and scallops and let cook another 5 minutes.  Taste a piece of each to make sure they are cooked, but don’t let it go too long or you can overcook each of these delicate items easily.

Spoon into hearty soup bowls and sprinkle with a little parsley and lemon zest and serve with the crusty garlic bread.  If desired, pass some additional red pepper flakes around at the table for hot heads like me.