Makes 8 to 10 servings
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 bunches scallions, sliced (1-1/2 cups)
2 green peppers, diced (about 2 cups)
1 onion, diced (about 1-1/4 cups)
1-1/4 cups diced fennel bulb (about 5 ounces)
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white wine
1 quart fish broth
8 cups drained canned Italian plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup tomato puree
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper
12 littleneck clams, scrubbed well
10 mussels, beards removed
3 steamed hardshell crabs, fresh cooked or frozen thawed
20 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1-1/4 pounds swordfish or halibut steaks, diced
3 tablespoons shredded basil
Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the scallions, peppers, onion and fennel. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, 6 to 8 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the white wine, bring to a boil and cook until the volume of wine is reduced by about half, 4 to 6 minutes.
Add the fish broth, tomatoes, tomato puree and bay leaves. Cover the pot and simmer the mixture slowly for about 45 minutes. Add a small amount of water, if necessary. Cioppino should be more a broth than a stew.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
Separate the claws from the crabs and cut the bodies in half. Add the clams, mussels, crab pieces, shrimp and swordfish to the soup. Simmer until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open.
Add the basil and adjust the seasoning to taste, if necessary. Serve in heated bowls or soup plates.
Source: Culinary Institute of America’s Book of Soups