Recipe

Cacciucco-fish Stew

Ingredients

5 pounds assorted seafood, such as eel, squid, prawns, whiting, hake, red mullet, small octopus, John Dory, cuttlefish and crawfish
3/4 cup olive oil
2 cups onions, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
2 celery stalks, julienned
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 hot chili peppers, stemmed and minced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 cups red wine
4 cups peeled, seeded and chopped Roma tomatoes
6 cups light stock, fish or chicken
Salt and pepper
12 slices French or Italian type bread

Clean the fish, remove their heads and put them aside. Cut the smaller fish into 3-inch pieces. Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a large pan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and saute for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley, garlic, peppers, bay leaves, thyme and fish heads. Continue to saute for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the fish heads have browned. Add the red wine and bring up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stock. Bring the liquid up to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Discard the fish heads and bay leaves, set aside and keep hot. In a large saute pan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the squid, cuttlefish and octopus and saute for about 10 minutes. Add the remaining fish and continue to saute for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Heat a large saute pan, and add the remaining olive oil. When the oil is hot, pan-fry the bread for a couple of minutes on each side, or untilgolden. Fry the bread in batches. Line a large tureen bowl with the fried bread. Lay the fish on top of the fried bread. Pour the soup over the fish and garnish with parsley. Yield: about 6 servings