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San Francisco Style Cioppino

San Francisco Style Cioppino is a traditional Italian dish that was invented in the late 1800s. It is made of fresh seafood. It is often made with dungeness crab, but can also contain mussels and sea bass. The sauce is also made with tomatoes and fennel seeds. During the early 1900s, San Francisco was home to Italian-Americans. As a result, Cioppino has many unique variations and is still popular throughout the city.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 serves
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Calories: 421
Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 TBS Olive Oil good quality
  • 4 Garlic Cloves small dice
  • 1/2 Onion small dice
  • 1 Carrot small dice
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper small dice
  • 1 cup White Wine
  • 2 cups Stock
  • 1 TBS Lemon Juice
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Dried Parsley
  • 1/2 tsp Dried Basil
  • 5 Large Tomatoes diced (around 2 cups)
  • 6 oz Halibut big chunks
  • 8 oz Mussels
  • 6 oz Shrimp peeled and de-veined
  • 4 oz Scallops small pieces

Method
 

  1. In a large sauce pot turn on low heat and add olive oil and garlic. Let the garlic infuse the oil and become aromatic, around 5 minutes.
  2. Turn the heat to medium and add the diced onions, carrots and pepper. Sauté vegetables at least 5 minute until tender and the onions are translucent.
  3. Add the white wine and stir using a wooden spoon. Gently scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir the liquid. Add the stock and tomatoes.
  4. Cover the soup and let simmer for at least 10 minutes. The soup should reduce and become a bit thicker.
  5. Add the lemon juice, salt, peppers, parsley, basil and stir. Taste the soup (let spoonful cool of course) and season to taste.
  6. Slowly drop in the chunks of halibut into the simmering soup. Cover with lid and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Avoid stirring the soup to prevent breaking up the fish.
  7. Remove the lid and add the shrimp, scallops and mussels. Gently stir to coat everything in the soup base and cover with the lid and steam for 4-5 minutes. Watch that your heat does not get too high and cook the fish too quickly.
  8. Remove from the heat and discard any mussels that did not open. Serve with thick crusty bread.

Video

Notes

I have now had Cioppino twice in my life. Once in San Francisco, where it originated. And now in my kitchen. Both times it was flavorful, fresh, and not too fishy. The cost of this cioppino (which could easily feed four) was the same price as my portion in San Fran, so needless to say we will be eating cioppino more often!
 
Bread is very important for moping up all the great juices in this dish. Kyle and I really like our carbs bread so I served this with thin slices of garlic bread, ciabbata and sourdough. You can also change the fish assortment to whatever is fresh in your area. The only thing that this dish was missing was fresh, tender crab. But here in Dallas, we don't have fresh crab. And if it wasn't fresh, it wasn't going in this dish.