Seafood Stew (American Pacific Northwest Cioppino)

Cioppino is an Italian-American dish originating in the 1880’s from San Francisco. Traditionally, Cioppino would have been prepared with whatever had been caught that day. In San Francisco, this would have meant Dungeness crab, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, and any fish that would have been caught in the Pacific Ocean. The seafood is then combined with a deeply flavourful broth made from tomatoes and white wine. Its name, Cioppino, comes from the word “ciuppin“, the name of a soup with similar flavours but prepared with less tomato and with Mediterranean seafood from Liguria, Italy. Enjoy this easy and delicious one-pot Cioppino recipe for a special weeknight or holiday meal.

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 Tbsp. butter, divided
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 pinch red chili flakes
kosher salt
black pepper, freshly cracked
1 tsp. paprika
1 cup dry white wine
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2-3 sprigs lemon thyme
6 cups chicken broth or water
1 pinch saffron
½ lb fresh halibut
1 lb fresh salmon
1 lb fresh steamer clams
1 lb fresh spot prawns or any large-count prawns you prefer
2 fresh Dungeness crab, cooked and cleaned

Garnish:
extra virgin olive oil
lemon wedges

To make the stew, sauté onion and garlic in 2 Tbsp. of butter and olive oil along with chili flakes, salt, and pepper over medium heat 3-4 minutes. Careful not to burn the garlic. Add paprika, cook 30 seconds, and then add white wine to deglaze. Cook 7-10 minutes and reduce wine by half. Add tomatoes and lemon thyme and cook 7-10 minutes to reduce tomatoes and develop their flavour. Add chicken broth and saffron and simmer another 7-10 minutes. Add the final 2 Tbsp. of butter and melt it into the soup.

Slice the fish into 2" cubes; pieces should all be roughly the same size. Begin this process 10 minutes before serving. Heat the broth between medium and medium-high. With the broth at a simmer, add clams and cook 2 minutes, then add fish and cook 6 minutes. Add spot prawns and cook 3-4 minutes. Make sure to cover with a lid between each addition. Finally, add cooked crab to warm through, roughly 1 minute. Check for seasoning before serving.

Serve a half-section of crab in each bowl along with fish, clams, and prawns. Cover with the delicate, rich broth, garnish with lemon wedges, add a splash of olive oil, and enjoy. Serve with artisan sourdough bread and plenty of butter.

Tip: To avoid overcooking the fish, if you need a little more time before serving turn the heat off while adding fish and shrimp to the broth for cooking.

Helpful cooking info for the seafood:

While cooking, clams should take 5-10 minutes to open. Discard any clams that have not opened after 15 minutes.

Halibut and salmon need to cook as smaller chunks poached at 140 degrees for roughly 6 minutes.

Spot prawns need to be cooked 2-3 minutes or until opaque.