Cioppino - Italian Fish Stew

San Francisco is a seafood lovers kind of city. I visited a few years back and I was blown away by all of the great seafood available in this fine city. One dish that I tried for the first time was Cioppino. I can best describe this seafood stew with one word...AWESOME!!

I am a big soup guy anyway, but the flavors that come out in this soup, are to die for. I used as much fresh local seafood as I could for this recipe. Rockfish from the Chesapeake, Clams from Indian River Inlet in Delaware, and Mussels from a farm in Delaware. The Shrimp and Scallops are not available around here, so I just picked them up at the store. For the fish stock, I used some frozen clam juice that I saved from steaming a batch earlier in the summer. 

As you are starting to realize, this soup was invented using whatever ingredients were available at the time. So to be as authentic as possible...do the same thing. Use what you have available. 

Ingredients:
4 cloves of Garlic, Chopped

1 stalk of Celery, finely minced
1 small Onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp of Fresh Parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
Pinch of Hot Pepper Flakes
1 Cup of Pinot Grigio (or whatever white wine you have sitting around)
15 oz can of Crushed or Diced Tomatoes
3 Cups of Fish Stock

Seafood:

1 Pound fish fillets

1 pound of Mussels, cleaned, 1 pound of Clams, cleaned
1 pound of Shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1/2 pound of Bay Scallops

Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Add the oil in a large pot and preheat over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery,  pepper flakes and parsley, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the veggies begin to cook down.

2) Add the wine and let it cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes and the fish stock. Let the mixture come up to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, season with salt and pepper.

3) Add the seafood and cover with a lid, cook for about 5 to 10 minutes or until all the shellfish has opened and the shrimp and scallops are firm.

4) Ladle into bowls, add a pinch or two of chopped fresh parsley, and serve with some crusty garlic bread. Enjoy!