Cioppino

The classic cioppino served by San Francisco’s Tadich Grill – a 1998 James Beard Foundation regional restaurant award winner – includes shelled prawns and crab to make the dining experience less messy.

We’ve adapted the recipe for home cooks, leaving the crab in the shell and eliminating the extra fat involved in cooking the fish.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 celery rib, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh fennel bulb
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 leek chopped
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 pound halibut, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1/2 pound swordfish, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 8 cherrystone clams, scrubbed
• 8 mussels, scrubbed and cleaned
• 8 scallops
• 8 prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 cooked Dungeness crab, cracked and cleaned
• Chopped Italian parsley for garnish

Instructions

• Heat olive oil and butter in Dutch oven or large heavy pan over medium heat.
• Add onion and garlic and saute 1 minute.
• Add celery, carrot, fennel, bell pepper and leek and saute 5 minutes until softened.
• Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaves and cayenne pepper. Partially cover and simmer over low heat 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thick.
• Remove bay leaves. Stir wine, halibut and swordfish into sauce and cook 15-20 minutes, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Scrub clams and mussels.
• Gently add scallops, prawns and cracked crab to the sauce. Place clams and mussels on top. Cover and simmer until clams and mussels open, 5-7 minutes.

Notes