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This Cioppino recipe is sponsored by Hunt’s tomatoes. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the unexpected side benefits of writing a food blog is that I’ve become a bit of a food history buff! In addition to the enjoyment that Jack and I get sharing delicious recipes with all of you wonderful readers (like today’s Cioppino recipe), I’ve also come to enjoy learning about the background of classic dishes I’ve enjoyed eating for years.

In the case of Cioppino – this delicious tomato-based seafood stew is often cited as originating in San Francisco by fishermen who emigrated from Genoa, in Northern Italy. Cioppino is made with the ‘catch of the day’ – whatever seafood they caught out on the boat – and made with on-boat pantry staples including canned tomatoes, vegetables, bread, wine and spices.

The name Cioppino is sometimes attributed to the Italian word “ciuppin” which means “to chop” or “chopped,” but I’ve also read that it’s from the word “il ciuppin” which means “little soup”.

Cioppino is a very popular Italian-American dish, and it’s often served around the holidays in Italian homes and restaurants as part of a traditional Christmas Eve meal called the “Feast of Seven Fishes.”

Our version of Cioppino has a decidedly New England influence in the selection of seafood used in the today’s recipe – but based on the local seafood you have available – this delicious stew can be easily adapted for your own ‘catch of the day’.

This Cioppino has a rich and flavorful tomato-based broth made with Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes and Hunt’s Tomato Paste. We choose Hunt’s because their products are picked at the peak of freshness, 100% natural and non-GMO, with no artificial preservatives.

Instead of using chemicals like lye* Hunt’s peels all its diced, whole, and stewed tomatoes using FlashSteam™- a process that uses steam from simple hot water. This means no chemical by-products get put back into the earth.

For more information about Hunt’s tomatoes, visit them online or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. #HuntsDifference

*Lye peeling is generally recognized as safe by the FDA and has no adverse effects on the healthfulness of tomatoes.

Cioppino

Note: We break a little from tradition and make this dish without shells to make it easier to eat. But because the shrimp shells have great flavor, we shell the shrimp and cook the shells down to extract the flavor. Feel free to skip this step and add the shell-on shrimp in at the end if you prefer.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1½ pounds uncooked shell-on deveined shrimp (16-20 per pound)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups water
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 ¼ cup onions, diced
¾ cup scallions, sliced
¾ cup green bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, chopped
1 6-ounce can Hunt’s Tomato Paste
2 14.5-ounce cans Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes
½ cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry tarragon
Between ¼ and 1 whole teaspoon red pepper flakes (depends on how hot you like it)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated black pepper
1 ¼ cups Burgundy red wine
2 10-ounce cans whole belly clams
1 ½ pounds fresh haddock, sole or halibut cut into four large pieces
20 ounces crab meat, drained (fresh from the seafood department is best, but canned will also work)
Crusty Italian bread, for serving

Instructions

Peel the shrimp and place shrimp in refrigerator. Do not discard shells.
In a medium sauté pan, heat the one tablespoon of oil and add shrimp shells and sauté for two minutes on medium high. Add water and boil. Continue boiling to reduce the liquid to ¼ cup, crushing shells with the back of a wooden spoon as they cook. Discard shells and reserve liquid for later in this recipe.
In a 5-6 quart heavy bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven, heat the 1/3 cup of oil over medium high and add the onions, scallions, green pepper and garlic and sauté for about ten minutes, reducing temperature if needed. The vegetables should be soft and slightly browned.
Add the tomato paste and stir to incorporate.
Add the diced tomatoes and stir again. Bring temperature up until it starts to bubble.
Add the parsley, oregano, tarragon, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer five minutes.
Add the red wine and the reserved shrimp stock and simmer ten minutes covered.
Add the shrimp, haddock, crabmeat and the juice from the canned clams, but not the clams.
Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Try not to break up the fish if you stir the mixture at any point.
Uncover, add the clams and simmer 15 more minutes.
Serve in bowls with crusty Italian bread.