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Italian Cioppino Recipe


This is a recipe for San Francisco style Cioppino. Cioppino is a wonderful, hearty, Italian seafood stew. It is served with crusty sourdough bread to soak up all of the flavorful broth. Crab is the most popular ingredient but any shellfish may be used. Shrimp and fish alone are often used. However, if you use fish be sure it is a very firm type fish or it will disintegrate during the cooking. Scallops are also very good in Cioppino.

Ingredients
* 1/4 cup olive oil or salad oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
* 1 large green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
* 2/3 cup chopped parsley
* 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
* 1 can (28 ounces) tomatoes
* 1 cup dry red or white wine
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon dry basil
* 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano leaves
* 12 clams in shell, suitable for steaming, scrubbed
* 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
* 2 cooked large Dungeness crab (about 2 pounds each), cleaned and cracked

Directions
1. In 6-8 quart pan over medium heat, combine oil, onion, garlic, bell pepper, and parsley. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes (chopped) and their liquid, wine, bay leaf, basil, and oregano. Cover and simmer on low heat until slightly thickened, about 30-40 minutes.
3. Add clams, shrimp, and crab (or other seafood you have chosen). Cover and simmer gently until clams pop open and shrimp turn pink, about 20 minutes.
4. Serve in soup bowls with generous portions of sourdough bread on the side.
4 to 6 servings

Note:
Cioppino is a great dish for special occasions to feed large crowds. It is a complete dish or can be supplemented with a simple salad and/or appetizer. For years I had a Super Bowl party every year with about 30 guest. I cooked Cioppino just one time a year...at the Super Bowl party. I simply multiplied all the ingredients above by 4 or 5. The Cioppino was always a big hit and I suspect at least half of the guest came for the Cioppino rather than the game.

TIP: If you make large quantities of Cioppino that must be kept hot for long periods, do not add all the shrimp at the beginning. Add just enough to serve the guest initially. Then add more shrimp periodically. Also, after the cooking period in the directions above, do not allow the Cioppino to continue boiling. Keep it at a low simmer, just below boiling. The flavors will be enhanced the longer it cooks, however some of the seafood will begin to disintegrate, but it's still so good!.





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