Angela's Italian Recipe for Fish Stew Livornese Style

Fish Stew Livornese Style
(Cacciucco Livornese)

Caciucco is made with various types of rockfish, most of which are not found in the U.S. However, one can use many others sorts of fish such as red snapper, rock cod, halibut, bass, or any other firm-fleshed fish. According to tradition, this soup should contain at least 5 different sorts of fish, as many as the letter "C" in its name.


Ingredients: 3 lbs mixed fish 2/3 lb octopus and/or squid 1 medium-size onion 1 carrot 1 celery stalk 2 pts fish broth 1 tbs parsley, chopped 1 whole hot red pepper (peperoncino) 3 cloves garlic 3 oz extra virgin olive oil 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 lb ripe tomatoes Salt and pepper 8 king prawns 6 slices bread, approx 1/2-in thick

Directions:

Clean and wash the fish well.

Cut off the heads of the big ones, but leave the small ones whole.

Cut the octopus and the squid into medium-size chunks.

Make a battuto with onion, carrots, celery, parsley, peperoncino and 2 cloves garlic.

Put it in a saucepan together with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are golden and the vegetables begin to get tender.

Add the squid and the octopus and cook over low heat, occasionally moistening with white wine.

When the wine has evaporated add the tomatoes, peeled and seeded.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and finish cooking the octopus and the squid.

This fish will probably take about 45 minutes to get tender. The best way is to try it with the fork. Then, move to another pot and keep aside.

Add 1 pint of fish broth, all the small fish and the heads of the large fish.

Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every now and then, and moistening with more broth as necessary.

Sift and return the resulting strained broth to the pot (if too thick, add some more fish broth).

Fillet all remaining fish and place it in the pot together with the prawns.

Cook for a few minutes, moistening if necessary.

And then add the octopus and the squid. Remove from fire.

Use a rimmed soup plate and pour the fish broth over the slices of bread that have been toasted and rubbed with garlic.

Finally, dish out the caciucco into each plate and serve.