Our first move out of our humble abode a couple of weeks ago wasn’t a far one — we rolled our suitcases across the hall to our friend Jeff’s house. He’s been a gracious and accommodating host, and we’ve been incredibly grateful to him. The hubby and I are aware, however, that our arrival into Jeff’s otherwise peaceful dwelling brings with it a certain amount of chaos — constant chatter, crazy sleep hours, and, most significantly, a barrage of food items that migrated from our refrigerator to his without any announcement or warning.
In exchange for his hospitality, I’ve tried to cook whenever possible, and one night last week, faced with 2 pounds of frozen Asian basa filets, a handful of clams, a bunch of broccoli rabe and three very ripe tomatoes, I decided to throw together a light seafood soup resembling cioppino. Unfortunately, I am terrible at scaling down recipes for smaller crowds, so the end result yielded about 8 servings. Since seafood doesn’t really reheat all that well and I left town the next morning for my sister’s wedding, I’m not sure what happened to those other 5 servings. Knowing my husband and Jeff, however, I’m betting that once they were left to their own devices, one or both of them ate that soup in its ice-cold state while standing in front of an open refrigerator, using a single teaspoon to eat every last drop, bite by bite.
Gratitude Seafood Cioppino
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Cook time:
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Serves: 6-8
A simple, hearty seafood stew makes everyone grateful.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Asian basa filets (or any hearty white fish, such as swordfish or halibut), cut into chunks
- 1 pound littleneck clams, scrubbed
- 1 pound large shrimp, deveined and with shells separated but not removed
- 3 hothouse tomatoes, peeled and chopped (if tomatoes are not in season, use 2 14-ounce cans of whole plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano)
- 6-7 stems broccoli rabe, washed and roughly chopped
- 4 cups fish broth
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 bulb fresh fennel, chopped
- 1 large sweet yellow or white onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a heavy 5-quart pot over medium-high heat until shimmering but not yet smoking.
- Add garlic and onions in olive oil over medium high heat until onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add fennel and carrots and saute another minute or two until fennel is tender.
- Add paprika, cumin, salt and pepper and stir to incorporate, then add bay leaf, tomatoes, fish broth and white wine and simmer broth for approximately 30 minutes until flavors combine.
- When flavors of broth have incorporated, turn up the heat to medium or medium-high and add broccoli rabe and cook for 1 minute.
- Add fish and cook for 2 minutes, then add clams and cook for an additional minute.
- Add shrimp and cook until the fish is opaque, the clams are slightly opened and the shrimp are opaque and curled.
- Garnish with flat-leaf parsely and serve immediately.
