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Cioppino

Cioppino is a seafood stew with a hearty tomato, garlic, wine and fennel broth served with any combination of fish, shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, calamari… This dish is relatively simple, but the ingredients come together in such a fantastic way.

Since the dish is simple, all the ingredients need to be there. Don’t skip the fennel as it adds a lot of interesting flavor to the dish. I also don’t recommend skipping the tbsp of anise flavored liqueur at the end as it really brings the dish together.

I used scallops, cod, shrimp, and calamari for this. I also wanted to include mussels, but my grocery store was out. As I have mentioned before, I prefer good quality frozen seafood to fresh unless you live somewhere with a great seafood market.

This stew is perfect for serving with a side salad and some crusty bread to sop up the broth. I had some sourdough in my freezer and so we had some of that with a simple arugula salad.

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Cioppino

Delicious seafood stew with tomato garlic wine and fennel broth
Course Lunch, Main Course, Soup
Keyword Lunch, Main Dish, Seafood, Soup
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 bulbs fennel white part only, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups yellow onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp whole fennel seeds
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 4 cups chicken, vegetable or seafood stock
  • 1 1/2 cups dry white wine like pinot grigio
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 lb white fish I used cod
  • 1 lb shrimp
  • 1 lb scallops
  • 1 dozen mussels scrubbed
  • 1 dozen clams or calamari pieces
  • 1 tbsp anise liqueur like pernod or pastis
  • 3 tbsp minced fresh parsley

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and fennel and sautee until tender, about 10 minutes.
  • Stir in the fennel seeds and red pepper flakes and cook for another 2 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, stock, wine, 1/2tbsp salt and some pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes uncovered.
  • Add the seafood gently and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until the seafood is cooked and the shellfish has opened.
  • Stir in the liqueur gently. Allow the simmer for a few more minutes. Discard any shellfish that hasn't opened up. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Serve in bowls topped with parsley.
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