Seafood Cioppino

jcanracer

I had a slow day of fishing last Sunday and kept a decent sized Black Margate just to have something for dinner. Turns out I had house guests coming over so I had to stretch that a bit without going overboard on the ingredients. I decided to make Cioppino and I roughly followed this recipe:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cioppino-seafood-stew-with-gremolata-toasts-51248830

YIELDMakes 6 servings ACTIVE TIME1 Hour TOTAL TIME1 1/2 Hours

INGREDIENTS

3 garlic cloves, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup packed sliced fennel

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

1/2 pound cleaned squid, bodies sliced into 1/2-inch rings, tentacles halved lengthwise if large

1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup dry white wine

1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 8-ounce bottle clam juice

1 1/2 cups seafood stock or vegetable broth

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 baguette, sliced and toasted

1 pound littleneck clams, soaked in water for 1 hour

1/2 pound medium tail-on shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 pound mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

1/2 pound skinless flaky white fish such as bass, halibut, hake, or cod, cut into 1-inch pieces

PREPARATION

Mince 2 of the garlic cloves. In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion, fennel, celery, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the minced garlic and red-pepper flakes. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is golden and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add squid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until squid is opaque and tender and the released juices reduce, 15 to 20 minutes. Add tomato paste and oregano and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add wine, raise heat to medium-high, and cook until cooking liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 7 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, bay leaves, clam juice, and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered, 30 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the butter, 1 tablespoon parsley, lemon zest, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together. Cut remaining garlic clove in half and rub the cut sides on the toasts. Spread the flavored butter on the toasts.

When ready to serve, heat the pot to medium and add clams, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and mussels. Arrange the fish on top of the stew, cover, and simmer until shellfish opens and fish and shrimp are firm and opaque, about 5 minutes more. Discard bay leaves and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.

My substitutions were:
1 pound of Margate for the fish
no squid, no mussels
1 can of clams
1 pound of shrimp
I added a few potatoes cut into inch/ inch and a half cubes.
We didn't bother with the gremolata toasts, I just got a nice crusty bread from Publix instead. Fed four of us and the bowls were absolutely clean at the end of the meal.

Soda Popinski

I have made Cioppino an the only thing I'd like to add to your recipe is use Cento tomatoes and tomato paste.    The difference when make spaghetti sauce and Cioppino is night and day. 

Better tomatoes = better eating. 

jcanracer

I hear ya, I may have doubled the amount of tomato paste, I am not sure since I almost never measure accurately.

Slough

Sounds great, may have to try.

SHELLFISH

Sounds tasty! Cioppino is historically nothing but San Francisco Seafood stew.