If you ask any San Franciscan, The City is the home of California's native fish soup, cioppino. They may be right. Certainly the Portuguese and Italian fishermen who settled there brought their old tradition of dropping any unsold seafood into a pot and cooking it up into something delicious. However, the Portuguese and Italians were just as busy off the SoCal coast as they were up north. Unfortunately, I guess, the basic ingredient in cioppino, Dungeness crab, isn't found this far south. So instead we use the local spiny lobster. You could use Atlantic lobster if you are on the other ocean of course but here's my version, suitably adjusted for my wife's severe allergy to celery.
2 Tbs. olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
½ medium bell pepper (green or red) diced
2 Tbs. diced lovage stalk, minced
1 Tbs. minced garlic
¼ cup, more or less, chopped parsley
28-29 oz. canned, diced tomatoes
1 ½ cups white wine or light beer (half beer, half clam juice works, too)
½ tsp. dry basil leaves
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
Gr. Pepper and salt to taste
1 can white beans, drained
1 doz. Small clams
1 lb. white fish fillets cubed
1 lb. squid, cleaned and cut into rings
• Kill the lobster and cut in quarters.
• Heat the oil and then sauté the vegetables over medium heat until all are soft but not browned.
• Add garlic and stir for 15 seconds
• Add tomatoes and beer; bring to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes. Check seasoning.
• Add lobster 12 minutes before serving time, clams 10 minutes before serving, fish cubes 5 minutes before serving and the beans and squid 2 minutes before serving. When the clams are fully open and the fish and squid are opaque the soup is done.
Serve in bowls with hot Italian bread and aioli. And don’t forget the Chianti.
Southern Cioppino
1 spiny lobster, 1 ½ lb. or larger, live or cooked2 Tbs. olive oil
½ medium onion, diced
½ medium bell pepper (green or red) diced
2 Tbs. diced lovage stalk, minced
1 Tbs. minced garlic
¼ cup, more or less, chopped parsley
28-29 oz. canned, diced tomatoes
1 ½ cups white wine or light beer (half beer, half clam juice works, too)
½ tsp. dry basil leaves
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
Gr. Pepper and salt to taste
1 can white beans, drained
1 doz. Small clams
1 lb. white fish fillets cubed
1 lb. squid, cleaned and cut into rings
• Kill the lobster and cut in quarters.
• Heat the oil and then sauté the vegetables over medium heat until all are soft but not browned.
• Add garlic and stir for 15 seconds
• Add tomatoes and beer; bring to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes. Check seasoning.
• Add lobster 12 minutes before serving time, clams 10 minutes before serving, fish cubes 5 minutes before serving and the beans and squid 2 minutes before serving. When the clams are fully open and the fish and squid are opaque the soup is done.
Serve in bowls with hot Italian bread and aioli. And don’t forget the Chianti.
