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Ingredients
- 3 T olive oil
- 1 3/4 cups chopped onion (1 onion)
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 t crushed red pepper
- 2 t fennel seed crushed
- 8-10 cloves of garlic (3-T -divided)
- 3 T tomato paste
- 750 ml bottle fruity red wine
- 2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 t crushed dried oregano
- 1 t fresh ground black pepper
- 2 pounds firm, meaty fish - yellow tail or monk or sea bass - cut into large chunks
- 1 pound delicate fish - rock cod or snapper - diced into large chunks
- 3/4 pounds shrimp in shell
- 1 1/2 pound Dungeness Crab, cooked, cleaned and cracked.
- 1 pound small mussels or clams
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
Details
Servings 10
Preparation
Step 1
1. Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until soft - 5 minutes
2. Add the red pepper, fennel and 1/2 of the garlic and continue to cook until fragrant - 3 more minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook another 3 minutes and then add the red wine - simmer to reduce - about 20 minutes.
4. After reduced add the tomatoes, salt, bay leaf, oregano and pepper and cook at a low simmer until the sauce is brick red - 45 minutes. This should result in about 6 cups of sauce.
NOTE: This can be done up to two hours in advance (if left covered and room temp. If tightly covered and refrigerated you can do it longer in advance.
5. While sauce is simmering, cut the fish, keeping each type separate.
6. season all the fish and the shrimp with the remaining garlic and a little salt, cover tightly and refrigerate.
7. In a separate large sauce pan, taller than wider,arrange the seafood. First layer in a thin layer of sauce then add the crab as bottom layer, then begin stacking the fish on top of the crab - start with the meaty fish, then delicate fish, then shrimp and last the mussels.
8. Pour the remaining sauce over the stack and give the pot a good shake to distribute the sauce. Cover and place over medium heat. Cook until the clams or mussels open - 20 minutes. From time to time shake the pot vigorously (watch the lid - hold it down tight). Shaking instead of stir, so that you do not break up the fish.
9. When ready to serve, gently stir in the parsley and ladle the Cioppino into warmed bowls.
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