I have received some requests for my cioppino recipe that I made on Christmas eve so I went ahead and posted it for everyone.  This is a great stew and is better when you make a lot.  It would also go really well over a fresh pasta but I prefer to have it as a stew with lots of toasted ciabatta on the side.  Buon appetito!

Recipe: 

Tomato Confit

Ingredients:

2 28-oz cans whole San Marzano Tomatoes, or if it’s tomato season 2 pounds fresh tomatoes peeled

1 tablespoon fresh thyme (minced)

1 bay leaf

extra virgin olive oil (enough to cover tomatoes)

salt & pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 250F.  Remove tomatoes from can and reserve the juice.  Gently arrange tomatoes in a Dutch oven.  Add the thyme and crush the bay leaf over the top.  Add enough olive oil to just cover the tomatoes.  Add the salt and pepper.  Bake for about 4 hours, or until tender.  Increase oven temp to 450 F and bake for 5-10 minutes, or just until browned.  Make sure to watch them at this point, they can burn very quickly and it will give the tomatoes a bitter flavor.  Remove from oven let cool slightly.  Strain the tomatoes from the olive oil and reserve oil.  Place tomatoes in a blender and blend until smooth.  Set aside or cover and refrigerate.

 

Cioppino Sauce

Ingredients:

extra-virgin olive oil (use the oil that you strained from the tomato confit)

3 medium yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1-2 tablespoons capers, preferably salt-packed capers rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes

4 anchovy fillets, preferably salt-packed anchovies rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes

½ c dry white wine

3 cups seafood stock

tomato confit (from above) and the reserved tomato juice from cans

chili flakes

Preparation:

Heat a small stockpot over medium heat, add the olive oil, onions and garlic sauté for 10 minutes, or until soft.  Add vinegar and cook until the pan is almost dry.  Add the capers and anchovies and sauté until the anchovies break up.  Add the wine and cook until the liquid has almost evaporated.  Add the seafood stock and bring to a boil, add the tomato confit and tomato juice.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat.

 

Cioppino

Ingredients:

3 dozen mussels, scrubbed and debearded

2 dozen manila clams, scrubbed

2 pounds rock cod

1 ½ pounds calamari, cleaned

1 pound shrimp, cleaned and deveined

1 pound bay scallops

½ cup fresh basil, chopped

¼ cup tarragon, chopped

¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped. Plus more for garnish

toasted ciabatta

Preparation:

Add the cioppino sauce (from above) to a very large soup pot or Dutch oven (6-8 quarts) and bring to a gentle boil (a shorter, wider pot is better than a tall narrow one, because it is easier to gently stir the seafood and shellfish.)  Add the mussels and clams (throughout, treat the stew gently to avoid breaking the fish) Reduce heat to a simmer cook for 3 minutes.  Add the rock cod, scallops and shrimp cook for another 2 minutes.  Finally, add the calamari making sure to submerge it in the sauce.  Simmer just until calamari is cooked through and warm, 1-2 minutes.  Add the chopped herbs and gently stir to incorporate everything together.  Let stew sit over very low heat to keep warm and allow the flavors to come together, about 5 minutes. Salt to taste.

Ladle the stew into shallow bowls.  Give it a good sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.  Serve with toasted ciabatta and enjoy.