Guest Post from Debbie Aidinis
Cacciucco is one of my favorite meals, especially when the weather turns colder. I originally had this for dinner years ago in a restaurant and loved it. I always try to make meals I enjoy, so I searched through cookbooks and found a few recipes that were close to the restaurant meal I’d liked. This is a hearty stew that tastes just as good -if not better- the next day. I serve it with crusty bread seasoned with an olive oil mixture and placed in oven until it is crispy. This bread is delicious when dipped in the Cacciucco broth.
For this recipe, I prefer to use prawns, when available, with the shells still on. The flavor is superb in the stew. Another option is using lobster tails with the shells on. I also like to use Halibut as the fish, which is a very mild white fish. As always, everyone has preferences when cooking with seafood and this dish lends itself to many variations in the type of fish used. The amount of seafood used can also be adjusted to your own liking.
Cacciucco — Mediterranean Fish Stew
Ingredients:
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery with leaves, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 oil packed anchovies
1 can (14 ½ oz) San Marzano plum tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
Pinch of Saffron threads
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup white wine
4 cups fish stock (see Note)
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
1 ½ to 2 lb white fish fillet, such as Halibut, skin removed
12 little neck clams, cleaned
12 black mussels, cleaned
8 jumbo shrimp or prawns shelled and deveined
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Warm Crusty Bread
Optional:
Sea Scallops
Lobster Tails with shells, cut in half lengthwise
Note: If fish stock is not available, you can substitute 2 cups (16fl oz) bottled clam juice plus 2 cups vegetable stock.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy deep skillet. Add onion, celery with leaves, and carrot to skillet and sauté. Add red pepper flakes and thyme. Chop anchovies and add to skillet. Sauté until anchovies have melted, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, breaking them up with your hands or a wooden spoon. Add the fish stock and 1 cup of water. Add the saffron, bay leaf, rosemary, basil, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add some of the reserved tomato juice if you want more liquid or tomato flavor. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Cut the fish into 2 inch pieces, add to broth, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add clams, mussels and shrimp. If using any additional seafood, add to mixture at this time. Cover and cook until shrimp is pink and clams and mussels have opened. Discard the bay leaf before serving.
Slice bread in half to open, and spread with a mixture of olive oil, chopped basil, parsley, black pepper. Place in the oven at 400 till crisp and brown. Cut bread into long pieces.
Ladle the stew into bowls, place bread on the side, and serve.
Enjoy!