Cioppino - San Francisco Fish and Seafood Stew

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Tomato sauce

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveWide, shallow pot
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
4. 4
   Add the pepper and fry about 10 minutes, stirring, until it softens.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
5. 5
   Add the tomato paste and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   Stove
6. 6
   Pour in the wine and cook 2–3 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates.

   Stove
7. 7
   Add the tomato paste and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

To assemble

1. 8
   Meanwhile, rinse the clams in cold water. Discard any open clam that doesn't close when tapped.
2. 9
   Add the fish cubes to the sauce and cook 4 minutes over low heat, without stirring much, so they don't fall apart.

   Stove
3. 10
   Add the clams and the shrimp, cover and cook 5–6 minutes, until the shrimp are completely pink and the clams open. Remove and discard any clams that stay closed.

   StoveLid
4. 11
   Sprinkle with the parsley, squeeze over a little of the lemon and serve in deep bowls with crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.