I have a couple of recipes I can’t wait to share with you (and I promise I will)… but we had an amazing birthday celebration for my dad and I this evening and I couldn’t help but prioritize this wonderful recipe. Think of cioppino as a seafood stew. It’s not an everyday meal or a weeknight dish. But friends, this is special. We served it with a crusty garlic bread to soak up the incredible juices of the cioppino and a baby kale and arugula salad. This beautiful soup has a delicious surprise guaranteed in every single bite. This was truly birthday dinner perfection.
Seafood Cioppino:
- 1/3 cup butter (5 tablespoons)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 cups white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more if you like it spicy)
- 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp – peeled and deveined
- 1 1/2 pounds bay scallops
- 18 mussels, cleaned and debearded
- 3 lbs. snow crab legs, cooked and de-shelled
- 1 1/2 pounds cod/sea bass fillets, cubed
This soup is really very simple and comes together so easily at the end (mind you, there are a couple of labor intensive processes to prepare the different types of fish – but it’s oh so worth it). The good news is is that there is plenty of time while the broth simmers to accomplish these tasks. So, let’s get started. First, melt the butter and olive oil in a very large stock pot, at least ten quarts.
Then, add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the pan and cook through until soft.
Next, add the chopped parsley and let cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the chicken broth, fire roasted tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, dry white wine, bay leaves and remaining spices (basil, thyme and oregano) to the broth. Let the broth simmer on low, covered.
Okay, the easy part is over. But, it’s okay. The broth is going to simmer for at least an hour leaving plenty of time to prep the beautiful seafood.
Let’s start by peeling and deveining the shrimp. If you have an extra helper, two people makes the process go by much quicker (I luckily had the assistance of my most talented sous chef).
Next, cube the cod or sea bass filets.
Then, cook the crab legs for 5-8 minutes at 350 degrees.
Once cooled, de-shell the crab legs and be amazed by the tender, moist crab meat!
Then, soak the mussels in cold water for roughly twenty minutes and debeard the crustations (and you want to discard any that have opened prior to soaking). Instructions on cleaning debearding mussels can be found here.
Now, let’s check on our broth. Looking beautiful as ever, we are ready to add our seafood.
When ready to serve, add the mussels and let cook for five minutes. Then, add the shrimp, fish and scallops. After an additional ten minutes add the cooked crab meat. Let the stew simmer for five minutes and serve this yummy deliciousness.
The crusty garlic bread and baby kale and arugula salad were the perfect sides. I don’t mean to instruct you on how to devour this soup, but my wise words of experience strongly encourage you to soak up the savory broth with the crunchy bread. It is oh so good.
Wine choice? Yes, I know what you’re thinking: white wine… sauvignon blanc, etc. But based on the spiciness of this stew, I would go with the 2011 Murphy Goode Pinot Noir. Balanced enough to stand up to the stew and light enough to pair with all of the gorgeous seafood (did I mention delicious, too?)
Enjoy!
