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Cioppino combines a delicious variety of seafood in a rich, tomato-based broth. Every spoonful is bursting with fantastic flavors from the ocean!
What is Cioppino?
It’s a delicious tomato-based seafood stew, often cited as originating in San Francisco by fishermen who emigrated from the Liguria region of Northwestern Italy.
Cioppino is made with the ‘catch of the day’ – whatever seafood the fishermen caught out on the boat. It could be made with on-boat pantry staples including canned tomatoes, vegetables, bread, wine, and spices.
The name Cioppino (pronounced chuh-pee-no) 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”.
A delicious meal for the holidays – or any day!
Cioppino is now 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 added to today’s recipe, but it’s really based on seasonality and availability of various fish at our local market – plus some frozen and canned options as well.
Based on the local seafood you have available – this delicious seafood stew can be easily adapted to your own ‘catch of the day’.
Why You’ll Love Cioppino
- The flavors are fantastic! A variety of seafood adds a distinctively briny flavor to the rich tomato broth. Savory notes of green pepper, garlic, and onions are distinctively Italian.
- This dish is easily adapted to be made with the freshest seafood you can buy plus pantry and freezer ingredients you can always keep on hand. When the craving for a delicious meal of Cioppino strikes – just head to your local fish market.
- Our Cioppino recipe is truly restaurant-quality, and it rivals the meal you’d order at your favorite Italian-American restaurant.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Stock – You’ll need about two quarts of fish or seafood stock for this recipe. You can make your own if you’d like, but there are now some good seafood stock options at the supermarket, found in the same aisle as other canned and boxed stocks. (See Substitutions below for more information.)
- Onions – You’ll include a combination of yellow onions, shallots, and scallions (aka green onion) in this recipe.
- Green Bell Peppers – While you can add other varieties of bell pepper, we think the flavor of green bell peppers is the best for Cioppino. It lends a distinctive, slightly sharp flavor that goes so well with the seafood.
- Fresh Garlic
- Tomatoes – Buy good-quality canned whole tomatoes (we like Cento San Marzanos) plus tomato paste.
- Seafood – We bought frozen, shell-on, uncooked (de-veined) shrimp, canned whole belly clams, fresh cod fish and refrigerated fresh lump crab meat. But, any other fresh fish or shellfish can be used such as scallops or mussels.
- White Wine – Any good white drinking wine is fine. Sometimes cioppino recipes call for red wine, but we feel that the strong flavor of a red wine can overwhelm the taste of the broth.
- Seasonings and Spices – Fresh parsley, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and dry oregano help season the broth. Kosher salt is also added at the end (if needed).
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Italian or Country bread – for serving. (A dense bread will toast up nicely and be perfect for soaking up the broth.)
- Optional – Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving.
Should I only buy fresh seafood for this recipe?
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- The answer is…it depends! If you are lucky enough to live along the coast, or you are able to shop at a reputable seafood market that receives fresh shipments every day – freshly-caught seafood will often yield the best flavor.
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- But, some varieties of seafood can easily go bad – so sometimes, frozen or canned options may actually be better. Examples of this include shrimp. We buy frozen shrimp all the time because it is flash-frozen right off the boat.
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- We don’t live in an area where freshly-caught crabs are abundant, so we buy refrigerated containers of lump crab meat. These containers can be found near the seafood counter at your supermarket. Containers marked ‘claw meat’ will have smaller pieces than the containers marked ‘jumbo lump.’ Avoid all other canned crab meat as it has mostly shred and bits of crab meat.
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- Sometimes, we will buy fresh clams in their shells and cook them ourselves, but for convenience we sometimes use canned clams and bottled clam juice – as we did in this recipe. Avoid the packages of frozen clams as they often have a tough texture and the flavor isn’t as sweet.
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Buying boxed fish or seafood stock is perfectly fine. In our recipe below, we will show you how to add a few ingredients to the store-bought stock, and reduce it to intensify the flavors. Just note that some canned/boxed seafood stocks may be fairly salty. Wait to season your Cioppino with additional salt until the end of the cooking process – you might not need to add any.
Special Tools You’ll Need
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- Medium Pot – To cook shrimp shells and reduce the stock.
- Can Opener
- Mesh Strainer
- Several bowls
- 7-quart soup pot
- Various measuring cups and spoons
- Large wooden spoon
- Ribbed Grill Pan – To toast the bread.
- Pastry Brush
How do I make Cioppino?
- Peel the shrimp and place shells in a medium pot. Place peeled shrimp in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
- Open canned clams and strain the juice right into the pot with the shrimp shells. Set clams aside and refrigerate until needed.
- Pour two quarts of seafood or fish stock into the pan with the shrimp shells. Add about a dozen fresh parsley stems and cook to reduce the liquid down to 1½ quarts (6 cups). Strain stock into another bowl and discard solids. Set stock aside until needed. (NOTE: The broth will foam up as it cooks and could boil over – so watch the heat.)
- Sauté onions, peppers, and garlic in olive oil (in the soup pot), then deglaze with wine. Cook for three more minutes then add tomato paste, crushed whole tomatoes, reduced stock, black pepper, oregano and pepper flakes. Simmer until vegetables are tender.
- Add large chunks cod and peeled whole shrimp. Cook just until the pieces of fish start to flake.
- Add whole clams and canned lump crab meat and heat through. Taste and season with salt if needed.
- Brush bread slices with olive oil and toast in a ribbed grill pan. Serve the toast with the finished Cioppino. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley over portions when serving.
- Serve with grated Parmesan cheese over the top (if you’d like).
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Cioppino ahead of time? Yes, the flavors develop as it chills overnight.
- How do I store leftovers? Store covered in the refrigerator for up to two days.
- How do I reheat leftovers? Reheat in a saucepan or the microwave. Avoid overheating.
- Can I freeze? Yes, you can freeze in an airtight container.
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Cioppino
Cioppino combines a delicious variety of seafood in a rich, tomato-based broth. Every spoonful is bursting with fantastic flavors from the ocean!
Ingredients
2 pounds 16-20 count shell-on raw deveined shrimp, thawed
2 quarts seafood of fish stock (boxed stock found in supermarket soup isle)
2 10-ounce cans whole belly clams (Bumblebee is a good brand found in the canned tuna isle)
1 small bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup shallots, diced
1 medium bunch of scallions, sliced (tops and bottoms)
1 cup green bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups white wine
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, we like Cento
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 pounds thick cod filets, cut into 2–3 inch pieces
1 16-ounce can refrigerated crab meat, Jumbo Lump or Claw Meat (We used Chicken of the Sea brand.)
Kosher salt, as needed (you may not need to add any if your stock is salty)
Parmesan cheese, for serving if desired
1 loaf crusty bread to serve with the finished cioppino.
Instructions
- Peel the shells from the thawed shrimp and place in a medium pot. Set the peeled shrimp aside for later.
- Add two quarts of the stock and drain the juice from the two cans of clams into the pan, saving the clams for later in this recipe. Add the parsley stems to the pot and bring to a boil, then lower to a fast simmer and cook to reduce the liquid to 1 ½ quarts. Discard the solids once reduced. Keep stock warm until later in the recipe.
- In a 7-quart soup pot or Dutch oven, heat 1/3 cup of the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onions, shallots, scallions, bell pepper and garlic and stir and cook for five minutes.
- Add the white wine and simmer for three minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and stir. Then use your hands and squish the whole tomatoes into the pot and pour in the juice.
- Add the oregano, black pepper and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer and cook for five minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the cod pieces and the shrimp and cook just until the cod starts to flake, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the canned clams from earlier and the whole can of crab meat and stir gently just to combine.
- Heat to serving temperature and taste for salt and add as you see fit. We added one teaspoon.
- While the Cioppino cooks, slice the bread into thick slices and brush both sides with the remaining olive oil and grill on both sides on a ribbed grill pan, adding a weight to the tops while grilling to get a nice crust on the bread.
- Chop some of the parsley and serve over each portion with the grilled bread.
- Optional Parmesan cheese can also be served over the side.
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