Spicy Cioppino (Italian Seafood Stew)

Description

Cioppino, an italian seafood stew traditionally contains, in addition to mussels and shrimp, clams, fish, scallops and sometimes, squid. For this recipe, I wanted something summery, light, not too fishy, with a slight heat.

add to shopping list Ingredients

mussels, washed and soaked in water (i used prepackaged new zealand mussels on a half shell)
medium gulf shrimp (though, any shrimp will do), shelled with tails left on
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 sweet red pepper, diced
1/2 tsp of hot red pepper flakes
oregano
1 bay leaf
mint
1 lemon, sliced into 4 wedges
red wine (i used cabernet sauvignon) or you can use white wine
butter
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

you can butterfly the shrimp in order to remove the vein. i soaked the unpeeled shrimp in cold water for a few minutes, peeled it accordingly, then slowly pulled out the vein. it should slide out quite easily.

Preparation

1. In a large pan, heat olive oil until smoking. Add the garlic, onion, tomatoes, oregano and bay leaf. Salt and pepper and add a bit of water.

2. Let the tomatoes break down a bit, then add the red pepper flakes and just enough wine to cover the mixture. Reduce.

3. Add the shrimp, mussels and diced sweet red pepper. Salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the shrimp turns pink.

4. Reduce to low heat and stir in about 3 slivers of butter. Squeeze 1 lemon wedge over the dish and place remaining lemon wedges on top. Cover and let sit for 2 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and sprinkle some mint.

6. Serve with toasted bread slices.

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Reviews

8/14/12

Sinbad says:

All kinds of yum! Very summer

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