Hearty Cioppino Food

CIOPPINO (SEAFOOD STEW)

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic until onion is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in thyme, oregano, red-pepper flakes, and bay leaf.
• Add crushed tomatoes and their juice, white wine, water, and clam juice; bring to a simmer.
• Add crab and clams. Simmer, covered, until crab shells turn bright pink and clam shells open, about 10 minutes. Season fish with salt and pepper. Add fish and shrimp to stockpot. Simmer, covered, until fish is opaque and shrimp are pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Discard bay leaf and any unopened clams.
• Remove pot from heat. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
• Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

CIOPPINO SEAFOOD STEW

Steps:

• Rinse the shrimp well. Peel, placing shells in a large saucepan that has a tightly fitting lid. Devein shrimp, cover, and refrigerate for later.
• Add the garlic, onion, celery, peppercorns and bay leaf to the saucepan. Cover with 4 cups of water. Bring stock to a simmer over medium high heat, When it reaches a simmer, turn heat to low. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain.
• Heat a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add butter. When butter has melted and stopped foaming, add the onion, celery, and red pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until edges of onion begin to brown. Turn heat to medium-low, then continue cooking until vegetables are tender.
• Stir the garlic into the vegetables. Cook until garlic is fragrant--about 30 seconds. Stir in the red wine vinegar. Cook until vinegar has almost completely evaporated. Add the wine and turn heat to medium-high.
• Simmer for a few minutes to allow the wine to reduce by about half. Stir in the tomato sauce, basil, oregano, fennel seeds (if using), red chili pepper flakes, sea salt, and black pepper.
• Slowly stir in the reserved stock. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the white fish. Cook white fish for 2-3 minutes, then add the shrimp. When the shrimp and the white fish are almost tender, add the clams or mussels. Cover and steam for a few minutes, or until shells have opened.
• Taste and adjust seasoning. If any clams or mussels remain closed, discard them.

HEARTY CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add oregano, parsley, and red-pepper flakes. Cook 1 minute. Add wine, stock, clam juice, and tomatoes. Reduce heat; simmer gently 30 minutes. (You can make soup to this point up to 2 days ahead, and chill. Reheat; add seafood.)
• Add clams; cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Add mussels; cook, covered, checking often and using tongs to transfer open clams and mussels to a bowl. Discard any that do not open. Add scallops, cod, squid, and shrimp to pan; simmer gently until seafood is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Gently stir in cooked clams and mussels; ladle into bowls, and serve.

HEARTY CIOPPINO

Steps:

• Cook onion, fennel, and serrano chile peppers in oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven until onion is tender. Add bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes.
• Stir in zucchini and rosemary; bring to a simmer, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf. Stir in salt and pepper.
• Add scallops and shrimp, and cook 3 minutes. Add mussels and fish; cook 4 more minutes or until mussels open and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. (Its best if you cool it now and refrigerate over night to serve the next day -- the flavor intensifies while it sits overnight). Its fine if you want to go ahead and eat it -- it tastes great now! Serve with garlic bread or grilled focaccia.