Seafood Soup

This recipe is an adaptation of Rachael Ray's Cioppino: A Fine Kettle of Fish. What makes this soup so delicious is the way it starts. The magic begins with the melding of anchovy, garlic, and red pepper flake in extra virgin olive oil. All of these flavors are then paired later on with a generous amount of thyme. This makes for a delicate, and yet, distinctly unforgettable tasting soup. All of these ingredients are either pantry items or cost little to nothing. However, I am aware that seafood dishes can quickly become a little pricey (especially recipes like this one) which encourage adding/using a variety of fish & shellfish alike. Not to worry though, as this recipe is extremely forgiving and versatile as far as which seafood your pocket-book will allow. My personal (and pocket-book) preference of seafood in this soup is shrimp w/tinned lump crab meat.

Ingredients:
1/4c EVOO
6-10 Anchovy Fillets
10 Garlic Cloves
1/2teas Red Pepper Flakes

2 Onions
2 Celery Stalks
1 1/2teas Dried Thyme (or 1Tbl fresh thyme)
2 Bay Leaves

1C White Wine
1 28oz Crushed Tomatoes (or diced)
4C Seafood Stock* see note

1lb Large 21/25 Shrimp** see note
1 Can Lump Crab meat (4.25oz)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
In a large soup pot, heat EVOO over medium heat. Melt anchovy into oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Once garlic has browned, add the celery and onion. Cook for 10min. Season with salt, pepper, bay leaf, and thyme. Deglaze with white wine. Add tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20min. Add shrimp and crab.

I always like to take a picture of all of the ingredients used, but somehow seem to forget one or two components. (okay I leave out a lot) Anyways, moving along.

Chop each stalk of celery in half for easier handling. Then slice each half lengthwise into thirds.

Dice into small pieces.

Remove the outer onion skin and chop in half.

Slice each halved onion to (but not through) the root 3-4 times.

Then downwardly slice lengthwise.

And then slice across to create a dice.

Mince garlic.

Heat a large (enameled if you have it) pot over medium heat w/the EVOO.

Add the anchovies and wait for them to melt into the oil. This should take 2-3min.

Once melty (yes, that's a technical term), add the garlic and red pepper flakes.

Stir and cook until the garlic is toasted. This should take 1-2min.

Once toasty (another technical term), add the celery and onion.

Cook for 10min.

Next, add 1/2teas Salt and 1/4teas Pepper.

Give a stir & then add bay leaves & thyme.

Give a stir & cook for 1-2min.

Deglaze the pan w/wine.

Cook 2min.

Add tomatoes.

Add a pinch of sugar (I use brown sugar) if so desired. Reason being is that canned tomatoes (especially the low rent stuff) can be less sweet & even taste slightly more acidic than the real deal.
So, pinch if you please.

Stir & add the stock.
(in my note you'll see that I use 4c scrap stock + 3teas better than chicken bouillon)

Bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to low.
Cook for 20min.

-Meanwhile-
Slice Shrimp in half. This is totally optional, but well worth it for a person on a budget like myself. As a direct result, the shrimp distribution throughout the soup is easily & quite instantly doubled.

After 20min. add the shrimp and crab.

Turn off the burner & stir for 2-3min. The heat from the soup will be enough to gently cook the shrimp & warm the crab through.

Bowl up and serve with bread.

Cook's Notes

*I like to make what I refer to as "scrap stock."

Scrap stock basically consists of 4c water combined with the scraps from whatever vegetables used in the recipe. (i.e. carrot peel, ends from onions, tops and bottoms of celery, parsley stems)

I also add herbs or extra vegetables on hand that I know I won't use otherwise. (i.e. carrots, green onions, rosemary, coriander seed)

I bring all ingredients to a boil and cover for 20min.

For this scrap stock, I used:

The recipe's vegetable scraps, a carrot, 1teas fennel seeds, 1teas black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, a generous amount of parsley, and the shrimp shells.

This part of the recipe (I'm aware) is nothing but extra effort and work. But it's a habit of mine that adds extra flavor & makes sure no part of the ingredients go to waste. One could EASILY substitute 4c chicken broth or 3c chicken broth + 1 (8oz) bottle of clam juice or 4c seafood stock.

**The "21/25" number indicates the estimated number of shrimp per pound. For this recipe, I'd advise either using (large) 21/25 shrimp cut in half or (medium) 41/50 shrimp UNCUT.

***This recipe, as I said before, really calls for a person's/family's own preference of seafood. Tilapia, cod, mussels, crab legs, scallops, salmon, etc. are all possible candidates to be added. Just make sure to know each individual seafood's cooking time and cook accordingly.