Cioppino

Name: Cioppino
Prep time: 1 h 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 1 kilograms halibut, sea bass, or other firm white fish, cut into inch-long cubes; 907 grams large or more) cooked Dungeness crab (hard shell); 454 grams (or more) of large shrimp; 907 grams little neck clams and/or mussels (mussels should be scrubbed clean and beards removed right before cooking); 118 milliliters extra virgin olive oil; 355 milliliters chopped onion (1 large onion); 237 milliliters chopped bell pepper (1 large bell pepper); 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon salt; 794 grams tomatoes; 1 serving Broth from the mollusks; 473 milliliters red wine; 473 milliliters tomato juice; 473 milliliters fish or shellfish stock; 1 serving Salt and pepper to taste; 118 milliliters minced parsley for garnish

Need

Instructions

clams and mussels: Steam mollusks (clams and mussels) in a small amount of water (about two cups) until they just open. Set aside. Strain and reserve the cooking broth.

Ingredients you will need

Mussels

Broth

Clams

Water

Prepare the cooked crab:

Ingredients you will need

Cooked Crabmeat

Remove the crab legs from the body and use a nutcracker to crack the shells so that the meat can be easily removed once it is served (leave the meat in the shell).

Ingredients you will need

Crab Legs

Pasta Shells

Meat

Break the body in half, and then cut each half again into either halves or thirds. You can opt to keep the crab meat in the body segments and serve it that way (more work for the eater) or you can pick out the crab meat from the body segments.

Ingredients you will need

Crabmeat

If you pick out the crab meat, try to keep it in big chunks. Keep the top shell of the crab for making stock.

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Crab

Stock

Note you can use prepared fish or shellfish stock, or you can make your own. If you are not making your own stock, you can discard the crab top shell body. If prepared shellfish stock is not available, I would combine some prepared fish stock (available at many markets, including Trader Joe's) with clam juice.

Ingredients you will need

Clam Juice

Stock

Crab

Fish

Prepare the shrimp: Split the shrimp shells down the back and remove the black vein. (See how to peel and devein shrimp.) I found the easiest way to do this, without removing the shell, is to lay the shrimp on its side and insert a small knife into the large end of the shrimp, with the blade pointing outward from the back (away from the shrimp and your hands).

Ingredients you will need

Pasta Shells

Shrimp

Equipment you will use

Knife

Once you have split the shrimp shells, you can turn the knife toward the shrimp, and cut in a little to find the black vein. Pull out the vein as much as you can. You can probably also use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the backs of the shrimp.

Ingredients you will need

Pasta Shells

Shrimp

Equipment you will use

Kitchen Scissors

Knife

Alternatively, you can shell the shrimps and devein them. Shell-on imparts more flavor; shell-off is easier to eat.

Ingredients you will need

Shrimp

Make the soup base: In a deep 8-quart covered pot, sauté onions and bell pepper on medium heat in olive oil until soft.

Ingredients you will need

Bell Pepper

Olive Oil

Onion

Soup

Equipment you will use

Pot

Add the garlic, sauté 1 minute more.

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Garlic

Add tomatoes, broth from the mollusks, red wine, tomato juice, fish or shellfish stock, the herb bouquet, and salt and pepper to taste.

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Salt And Pepper

Tomato Juice

Shellfish

Red Wine

Tomato

Stock

Fish

Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Remove herb bouquet. Taste and correct seasoning.

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Seasoning

Add the fish and cook, covered, until the fish is just cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.

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Fish

Add the steamed mollusks, crabmeat, and shrimp.

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Crabmeat

Shrimp

Heat just until shrimp are cooked (just 2-3 minutes, until they are bright pink). Do not overcook.

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Shrimp

Serve in large bowls, shells included.

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Pasta Shells

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Sprinkle with minced parsley.

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Parsley

Serve with crusty French or Italian bread and a robust red wine.

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Italian Bread

Red Wine

Have plenty of napkins available, a few extra bowls for the shells, and nut crackers and tiny forks for the crab.

Ingredients you will need

Crackers

Pasta Shells

Crab

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Equipment

Ingredients

Servings:

1kilograms

halibut, sea bass, or other firm white fish, cut into inch-long cubes 907grams

large or more) cooked Dungeness crab (hard shell)454grams

(or more) of large shrimp 907grams

little neck clams and/or mussels (mussels should be scrubbed clean and beards removed right before cooking)118milliliters

extra virgin olive oil 355milliliters

chopped onion (1 large onion)237milliliters

chopped bell pepper (1 large bell pepper)3cloves

garlic, minced 1teaspoon

salt 794grams

tomatoes 1serving

Broth from the mollusks 473milliliters

red wine 473milliliters

tomato juice 473milliliters

fish or shellfish stock 1serving

Salt and pepper to taste 118milliliters

minced parsley for garnish

Recommended wine: Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Zinfandel

Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, and Zinfandel are my top picks for Cioppino. With acidic tomatoes and sometimes even red wine as ingredients, cioppino calls for a red wine, such as a sangiovese, pinot noir, or zinfandel. You could try Buena Vista Chateau Buena Vista Pinot Noir. Reviewers quite like it with a 4.8 out of 5 star rating and a price of about 39 dollars per bottle.