Cioppino (Seafood Stew)
For all you seafood fans out there, here’s a truly mouth watering and delicious recipe that has become my favorite seafood dish that I have ever made. And I LOVE seafood. Cioppino is a dish originating from San Francisco and influenced by various regional fish stews from Italian cuisine.
I made my version with shrimp, cod, crab meat and scallops. The most traditional version usually involves either mussels or clams but oh well...maybe next time! Point is, you want four different types of seafood to work with. Or, do more than four. Hell, do ‘em all!
I would definitely recommend this if you’re cooking for company or a special occasion!
Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 and 1/2 cups dry white wine
One (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
One (14oz) can diced tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ cup tomato paste
3 cups fish stock
1 and 1/2 lbs. white fish (cod, halibut), cut into 2-inch chunks
1 and 1/2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled
1 lb. scallops
1 lb. lump crab meat
1 bay leaf
Heat oil in a very large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, red bell pepper, salt and black pepper, and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté another minute. Stir in the tomato paste. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, fish stock, wine, paprika and bay leaf. Stir to combine all together and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until all the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
Add the shrimp, scallops and fish. Bring to boil and then lower heat to simmer until the fish, scallops and shrimp are just cooked through, stirring gently, about 5 minutes. Add in crab meat and stir + simmer another 2 minutes so that all ingredients are well combined. Season the stew, to taste, with more salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
Serve over rice or pasta!
