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The Lovers Cioppino
Used with permission from the new cookbook
Shellfish edited by Karen Barnaby
Alterations should be made to fit with your dietary needs. Please
consult with your medical team before you attempt to make this recipe.
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The Lovers Cioppino serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup olive oil
5 onions, chopped chunky
lots chopped garlic
3 red peppers, seeded and chopped
2 green peppers, seeded and chopped
5 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1 bulb fresh fennel (with fronds), chopped
3 medium zucchini, chopped into big chunks
1 bottle Zinfandel (get a good, hearty one)
8 cups fish stock (or vegetable stock)
2 lb ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 bay leaves
to taste red pepper flakes (optional)
to taste salt and pepper
3 slices white bread
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
more garlic, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
12 clams, cleaned
12 mussels, cleaned
12 prawns (or more)
1 whole crab, disassembled
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb halibut fillet, cut into chunks
3/4 cup olive oil
24 very thin baguette slices, toasted and rubbed with garlic
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Instructions
- Heat 1/4 cup (60 mL) olive oil in a deep pan or wok.
- Add the onions and garlic and cook 10 minutes on low heat until the onions are soft but not browned. Add the
peppers, celery, fennel, and zucchini and cook 10 min-utes more.
- Transfer everything to a big warm stew or soup pot.
- Pour in the bottle of Zinfandel . . . yes, all of it.
- Pour in about the same amount of fish stock, but reserve a few spoonfuls for the baguette spread. Add the tomatoes, then the basil, fennel, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.
- Stir well, turn up the heat, and let it bubble once it’s come to the boil. Simmer, partly covered, for 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings.
- Soak the white bread slices in a little water and squeeze dry.
- Using a mortar and pestle, pound the bread and jalapeños and some garlic together into a paste.
- Add ½ cup (125 mL) oil, a small trickle at a time (as if you are making mayo) and keep pounding.
- Add a few spoonfuls of the reserved fish stock and some salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Bring the cioppino to another boil and add the clams, mussels, prawns, and crab.
- Add lots of chopped parsley.
- Adjust the liquid (stock and wine) as needed.
- Cover and simmer until the clams and mussels open.
- Add the halibut and cook another 3 minutes or so until the halibut is cooked through.
- Take the cioppino off the heat, collect yourself, and set the pot before the dinner group.
- Serve the toasted baguette slices with the garlic-oil-pepper spread you pounded in the mortar.
- You can also put one in the bottom of a bowl and pour the stew all over it.
- Roll up your sleeves and get down and messy.
- Drink lots more Zinfandel—starting with white if you like, moving through the lighter style, and ending with one of those old vines numbers.
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