Weekend Recipe: Cioppino
Cioppino has been on my mind lately. Some of my fans asked me to share my recipe so I just had to make it today.
Cioppino is a San Francisco original created by the Italians on Fisherman’s Wharf in the 1800s. The local story is that when the boats came in at the end of the day a big pot with tomatoes was put on the fire and the fisherman “chipped in” pieces of that day’s catch. They’d call to those who hadn’t donated yet. “Hey Guiseppe you gonna chip-in-o? Ciopinno was born.
More likely Cioppino comes from the Ligurian dialect. Some of the earliest Italians who settled in North Beach were from Genoa and other parts of the region of Liguria. They were fisherman in Liguria and they became fisherman on the Wharf. Cioppino is probably derived from “ciuppin” which in the Ligurian dialect means “little soup”, a fish stew.
This is an ecumenical dish. Sicilians later joined the Genoese on the Wharf along with Portuguese fisherman. They all added their own touches to this dish and the pot on the Wharf probably had different fish each day depending on what was left over on the boats.
I’m using local halibut, clams, mussels, calamari and prawns. Oh, and dungeness crab. I couldn’t find any in the fish markets. We’re out of season here in San Francisco. I was desperate. I went to see my friend Gigi at Sotto Mare in the Village. Gigi wasn’t there but Louisa hooked me up with a big, beautiful crab from the waters off Oregon.
This is really an easy dish to make. Saute the vegetables and herbs, add the tomato and simmer until you reach the consistency you want. I like a thicker tomato sauce but still with enough broth to dunk a piece of toasted sour dough garlic bread. Once the sauce is to the proper consistency put in the fish, cover the pot and simmer until the mussels and clams open. Top with basil, parsley, a drizzle of a good finishing EVOO and your ready to dive in.
The fish is just cooked through, tender and sweet bathed in the tomato sauce scented with onion, garlic and herbs. The sparkle of the red pepper flakes hits the back of your mouth as you swallow each bite. The zesty flavor of the sea in a bowl.
Make the tomato base and use any fish that you like. Make Cioppino you’re own. Here’s mine. Buon appetito.
Cioppino
Ingredients
- 8 ounces halibut or cod
- 1 dungeness crab cooked and cleaned
- 8 little neck clams
- 8 mussels
- 8 scallops
- 8 prawns
- 8 ounces calamari tubes and tenacles
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 small red pepper, chopped
- 6 leaves basil, roughly ripped
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup EVOO
- 1 cup pinot grigio or other dry white wine
- 28 ounces San Marzano tomatoes, crushed well by hand or pureed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons Italian pasley, chopped for garnish
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- sour dough bread
- 1/4 cup polenta to feed the clams and mussels
Cooking Directions
- Put the mussels and clams in a big bowl of cold salted water and top with a 1/4 cup of polenta. Let sit for 30 minutes stirring once in a while to distribute the polenta over the shellfish. The clams and mussels eat the polenta and any sand inside the shell will be expelled.
- Slice the sour dough bread and toast 1 or 2 slices per person in a grill pan. Put some weight on the slices to ensure they get grill marks. Toast the other side. Rub with garlic and sprinkle with EVOO. Set aside.
- Take the clams and mussels out of the polenta bath and wash them well. De-beard the mussels if necessary. Set aside.
- Break the crab legs and claws off the body. Crack the shells with the back of a large knife. Cut the body into quarters. Set aside.
- Leave the prawns in the shell. Cut down the middle of the back and remove the dark vein. Set the prawns aside.
- Cut the calamari tubes into one inch bands. If the tentacles are very large cut them in half.
- Cut the halibut into one and a half inch cubes.
- Put the EVOO, onions, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and red bell pepper in a large enamel pot.
- Saute over medium-high heat until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute another minute.
- Add the tomato paste and mix it in well with the vegetables. Stir until the paste turns a dark red color.
- Deglaze with the wine and simmer until the wine is reduced by half.
- Over medium-high heat add the tomatoes. Wash out the bowl that held the tomatoes with a cup of water and add to the pot and stir well.
- Add the basil and oregano.
- Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Cook the sauce until you reach the desired thickness.
- Add the halibut, scallops, shrimp, calamari, crab and prawns. Make sure they are covered by the tomato sauce.
- Top with the mussels and clams and nestle them into the sauce.
- Reduce the heat to medium-high and cover the pot.
- Cook until the mussels and clams open, about 7-10 minutes. Discard any mussels or clams that do not open.
- Put the cioppino in a large serving bowl.
- Top with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of a good finishing olive oil.
- Serve immediately with the grilled garlic sour dough bread to dunk in the sauce.
- Serves 4-6
Thank you Gianni. I made your recipe tonite and have to say, great. Really easy and delicious. My husband and I wish we were neighbors. We live in Atlanta, and have no Italianness here!! When we come to SF we will definitely be looking you up for a tour and a meal together.
Susan
Ciao Susan. Happy you were able to bring a little bit of North Beach to your kitchen. I hope we do meet when you’re next in San Francisco.