Food Network - Cioppino

By rickfanciullo

To prepare crab - add crab to pot of boiling water and boil for 5 min. Remove from pot and cool. Remove top shell and discard. Remove gills from sides of crab, trim face and scoop out the yellow matter and discard. cut body, with legs attached, into 4 pieces and reserve for stew

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup EVOO
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 1/2 cup canned plum tomatoes with their juice
• 1 1/2 cups clam juice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup torn fresh basil
• 1 lb monkfish on the bone (preferred0, sliced into 4 steaks
• 12 oz large shrimp, cleaned and deviened
• 1 live crab
• 4 oz cleaned squid, cut into 1/2 in pieces
• 3 tbs roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat EVOO in dutch oven at medium heat and add onion and fennel seeds, cook until golden brown - 15 min. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste and cook 2 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 min. Stir in 1/4 cup wine and simmer until reduced to a glaze. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of wine and reduce by 1/2.
2. Crush the tomatoes between fingers into the pot and stir in their juices, the clam juice, water and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. NOTE: You can stop here, refrig overnight in a tight container if you want.
3.Adjust heat so that the cioppino simmers briskly. Stir in the basil and monk fish, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and crab and cook for 1 minutes. Finally add the squid pieces and cook until firm- 2 min.
4. Remove bay leaf. Transfer the cioppino to a large bowl, scatter the parsley on top and serve.