- 4
Ingredients
- Cioppino:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 pound Little Neck clams
- 1/2 pound mussels, scrubbed
- 2 quarts Cioppino Sauce, recipe follows
- 2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
- Pinch saffron
- 2 to 2 1/2 pound Dungeness crab,
- cooked, cleaned and cracked,
- or 1 pound cooked crab meat
- (preferably Dungeness)
- 1/2 pound medium shrimp, shell on
- 1/2 pound squid tubes, cut in rings
- 1/2 pound firm-fleshed white fish
- fillets cut in 2-inch cubes
- 1/4 pound bay scallops
- Cioppino Sauce:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped sweet basil
- 1 (28 ounce) can peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
- 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
- 28 ounces water
- 1 tablespoon clam base without MSG, optional
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- Black pepper, to taste
- Crushed red pepper, to taste
- Dash cinnamon
- Kosher salt, to taste
Preparation
Step 1
Instructions for Cioppino:
1.Put the olive oil, butter, and garlic in a wide, deep pot over medium heat, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, but not brown. Add the wine and the clams, and cover. Turn the heat up to medium-high and steam until the clams start to open, about 5 minutes. Add the mussels, cover and steam until the just start to open, about 2 minutes.
2.Now stir in the cioppino sauce, the Worcestershire sauce and saffron and bring to a simmer. Add the cracked crabs, if using, and the shrimp, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
3.Then gently stir in the fish, squid and scallops, and simmer until they are all just cooked through, about 5 minutes. (If using cooked crab meat, stir it in very gently the last minute or so of cooking time.
Instructions for Cioppino Sauce:
1.Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic, bay leaves, parsley and basil and cook, stirring, just to warm the garlic—do not let it brown.
2.Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, water, clam base, brown sugar, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, black and red peppers, cinnamon and salt to taste. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low-medium and simmer uncovered for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.