Cioppino

No San Francisco dish is more famous than cioppino the traditional fisherman’s dish made from whole small fish featuring crab. Use whatever fish is local in your area but aim for a good balance of crab, fish and shellfish. If you can not find crab use crayfish. Serve with a large leafy green salad.

Ingredients

• 1kg fresh crab Cleaned
• 120mls extra virgin olive oil plus a little extra for splashing over the finished Cioppino
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• ½ cup thinly sliced leeks (white part only)
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 4 sprigs basil
• ½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1teasp harissa paste or 1 fresh red chilli with seeds.
• 250gm cod cut into 2cm thick pieces
• 250ml dry white wine
• 250ml low salt fish stock or chicken stock
• 500gm chopped tomatoes
• 250gm mussels scrubbed and debearded
• 250gm prawns
• 250gms squid cut into rings
• Salt pepper

Method

Warm the olive oil in a large pot over a medium to high heat.

Add the onion, leeks and garlic and sauté until transparent and soft.

Add the basil, parsley and harissa and stir to mix.

Add the white wine and cook until reduced by about ½.

Add the fish stock and crushed tomatoes.

Bring to the boil and add the mussels and boil till mussels begin to open

To the pot add the prawns when the prawns turn pink in about three minutes add the squid and cook for a further minute.

Season with salt and pepper. Stir well. Toss over lots of chopped Italian parsley and splash with olive oil.

Laddle into a large dish and place in the middle of the table with freshly olive oil rubbed and grilled bread