Ina Garten's Easy Cioppino recipe - Momma Young At Home (2024)

• Recipes

The classic Italian fish stew cioppino was my first love when I tried it in San Francisco a few years ago. It wasn’t until I tried Ina Garten’s recipe for Cioppino that I had a cioppino as good as the first bite that many years ago. Ina’s recipe for Cioppino can be made quickly and easily, so it’s not just for special occasions. This recipe is perfect for any weeknight. Ina Garten’s newest cookbook, Cook Like a Professional: Recipes and Tips for Home Cooks, contains this Cioppino. She proves to me that even home cooks can become pros in the kitchen with her delicious, easy recipes. The cioppino recipe, which is full of healthy seafood, was the one that I craved. And in compensation to the poor man whom I spilled on, I am sharing this recipe today.

What is Cioppino?

My dad was also born in San Francisco (Go Niners!) San Francisco was where Cioppino originated in the 1800s when Italian immigrants would share their catch with another fisherman who returned empty-handed. The Italian seafood stew can be easily adapted depending on what ingredients are available. The Italian word for chopped is “ciuppin”. There are only a few differences between Cioppino and bouillabaisse. Cioppino has a tomato-based soup, whereas bouillabaisse uses a fish stock broth and chopped tomatoes.

What is in this Cioppino Recipe?

Seafood is the most popular ingredient in Cioppino. You can choose any seafood you like.

• shrimp
• Clams
• Mussels
• Cod or halibut are white, meaty fish.
• Scallops
• Crabs
• ????? ????????
• Calamari, or squid
• Shucked oysters

Ina makes this Cioppino simple by using shrimp, cod scallops, and mussels. I also added clams because we love clams so much.

Here’s everything else you need to make this authentic Cioppino:

• Olive oil
• Fennel
• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Fennel seeds
• Red pepper flakes
• Crushed tomatoes
• Seafood Stock
• White wine
• Anise flavored liqueur
• Fresh parsley

Cioppino: How to make it?

• This fisherman’s stew broth is made with canned tomatoes, white wines, and seafood stock. There is only one brand of seafood stock available in the grocery stores. You can use clam juice ormake your seafood stock.
• Sauté the onion and fennel. Over medium heat, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion and the fennel until they are tender.
• Add your flavor builders– the garlic, fennel seed, and red pepper flake, and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Bring the water to a rolling boil, then simmer. Add the wine, tomatoes, tomato stock, and one tablespoon of salt. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Add the seafood. Add the seafood in this order: cod first, then shrimp, scallops, and mussels. Don’t stir. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the shellfish are open and the seafood is fully cooked.
• Add the liqueur. Be careful not to break the fish. Cover and leave aside for three minutes to allow the flavors to combine. Throw away any mussels or clams that have not been opened.
• You’re done! Dinner is ready. Do not forget to dip the crusty sourdough in your sauce!

How to Make Cioppino Seafood Stew

• These tips will make it easy for you to prepare this Cioppino:
  • After cleaning the shells, soak the mussels for 30 minutes in water and flour to release any sand from the bodies. Live mussels are the only ones who like a mouthful of sand. Rinse the mussels before adding them to the stew.
  • Before cooking, I remove the tails and shell my shrimp to make it easier to eat.
  • While I love crab, I rarely include it in my recipes because the shells are a mess after being soaked in the tomato broth. If you do decide to use the crab, I recommend cutting the legs in half so that the meat can be easily removed from the shell.
  • Prepare the base of the soup up to two days in advance and refrigerate it. Then, reheat the soup, adding the seafood just before serving.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups of fennel bulb, only the white part, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• Yellow onion, one large cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 1/2 cup
• Three cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• Fennel seeds, whole one teaspoon
• Red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon
• One 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes.
• Stock of 4 cups of seafood
• 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
• Black pepper and kosher Salt
• Cod fillets, 1 pound, skin removed. Cut into 2-inch dice.
• 1 pound of large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Half a pound of sea scallops cut crosswise.
• One dozen mussels, scrubbed
• 12 littleneck clams or any other small clam
• Pernod, Pastis, or any other anise-flavored liqueur will do.
• Three tablespoons parsley, minced.

Instructions

• Over medium heat, heat the olive oil in an oven or heavy pot. Add the fennel onion and cook for 10 minutes until tender.
• Add the fennel seeds and red pepper flakes and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant.
• Add the wine, tomatoes, stock, and one tablespoon of salt. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Add the seafood in this order: cod first, then shrimp, scallops, and mussels. Don’t stir. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the seafood has opened and is cooked.
• Cover and leave for 3 minutes to allow the flavors to combine. Throw away any mussels that have not opened.
• Sprinkle with parsley, and serve with slices of sourdough bread.