Cioppino
RECIPE
▪125g or ½ white onion, small diced
▪75g or ½ medium bulb fennel, small diced
▪4-5 garlic cloves, minced
▪Olive oil
▪Salt
▪1lb/.5kg shell-on raw wild shrimp, shells removed and reserved for stock
▪1box/900-1000g(mL) chicken stock
▪1 bottle/240g(mL) clam juice
▪Chile flake
▪200g or ¾-1c dry white wine
▪800g/28oz nice whole peeled canned tomatoes, pureed
▪1lb/.5kg mussels, rinsed, beards removed (any broken/open mussels discarded) ▪1lb/.5kg fresh atlantic cod, cut into 1”/2.5cm chunks and salted before cooking ▪.5lb/225g squid tubes and tentacles, sliced
▪Pinch sugar
▪Black pepper, chopped parsley, additional olive oil, to garnish
▪Plenty of good crusty bread for dipping
Into a medium sauce pot, add the shells from 1lb shrimp, stock, and clam juice. Bring to a simmer and continue simmer over medium low for about 15min.
Heat a large heavy bottomed pot over medium. Add a very generous squeeze of olive oil (it should almost coat the bottom of your pot) To that, add onion, fennel, and garlic and a large pinch of salt. Stir and sweat over medium for 4-5min.
Add pinch of chile flake to veg. Allow chile flake to cook and infuse the oil for about a minute, then add in wine. Bring wine and veg to a simmer and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes or until wine is mostly evaporated.
Add in all of the strained liquid from your shrimp-clam stock (discard shrimp shells). You should be adding about 1200g/mL here. If you don’t have enough, add additional chicken stock or water.
Stir in pureed tomatoes. Increase heat to medium high, bring to a boil. Continue to simmer and reduce for approximately 15 minutes by about 15-20%. At this point, taste the base for seasoning. Add salt and pinch of sugar if needed to balance acidity.
Reduce heat to low then drop in cod, shrimp, and squid. Gently move with a spoon to ensure everything is spread evenly and submerged before adding in mussels and snugging them into the base to submerge. Bring to a simmer, cover, and allow to poach for 3-4 mins.
Very gently stir the seafood. Continue to cook if mussels aren’t yet fully open. When mussels are fully opened and the rest of the fish is opaque, it’s done! Discard any mussels that didn’t open during cooking.
Ladle into a bowl, garnish with black pepper, olive oil, and minced parsley, and enjoy with crusty bread.
