Many years ago while on vacation in San Francisco I ate at a restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf. I saw cioppino (chuh-PEE-no) on the menu and even though I did not know what it was, I ordered it. It was an instant love affair.

Over the years I discovered that I was not the only one that had never heard of cioppino. So, if you are one of those, cioppino is an Italian seafood dish sort of like a stew. It features mainly shell fish such as crab, shrimp, scallops, mussels and clams. But many people make it with just crab or just fish.

Over the years I tried many recipes and added a few twists of my own and got pretty good at making cioppino. Then one year I decided to have a superbowl party and since I wanted one special featured dish, I decided to make cioppino. The response was overwhelming. As a result I served cioppino at my superbowl party for the next 15 years. People that did not even like football come to the party just for the cioppino. In fact people that I barely knew seemed to get very friendly around superbowl time. Hummmm...wonder why?

This is a San Francisco style Cioppino. Be sure to serve with lots of crusty sourdough bread to soak up the flavorful broth. If you use fish be sure it is a very firm type fish or it will disintegrate during the cooking.

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter (or olive oil)
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
** 1 large green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
* 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
* 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice
* 1 cup dry red or white wine
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 2 bay leaves
* 1/3 cup dry italian seasoning
* salt and black pepper to taste
* 12 clams in shell, suitable for steaming, scrubbed (optional)
* 1 pound large scallops
* 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
* 2 cooked large Dungeness crab (about 2 pounds each), cleaned and cracked
* 1 pound any firm white fish such as Snapper, Grouper, Orange Roughy or Mahi Mahi (optional)

Directions

1. In 6-8 quart soup pot, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes and their liquid, wine, sugar, bay leaf and italian seasoning. Cover and simmer on low heat until slightly thickened, about 30-40 minutes.
3. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add clams, shrimp, crab and any other seafood you have chosen (see note #2 below concerning shrimp). Cover and simmer gently until clams pop open and shrimp turn pink, about 20 minutes.
5. Remove bay leaves and discard.
6. Serve in soup bowls with generous portions of sourdough bread on the side.
Makes 6 - 10 servings

Very Important Note: This dish requires you to taste and adjust as necessary. There should be a good quantity of soupy liquid in the cioppino. If too dry, add water or wine, but if the water/wine thins the cioppino too much, add more tomato sauce and seasoning. The cioppino should be robust and flavorful with a strong oregano presence. If too bland, add salt and italian seasoning. Taste, taste, taste!

Important note #2: For a party you may need to keep the cioppino hot for long periods of time. Be aware that the shrimp will get rubbery and tasteless when over cooked. Therefore, you should reserve some fresh shrimp and add more periodically. You might even want to discard any overcooked shrimp from the pot.

Note #3: If you need to keep the cioppino hot for an extended period, keep it at a slow simmer. Do not allow to continue at a full boil.

Note #4: For larger quantities just continue doubling the recipe.

Note #5: You may freeze left over Cioppino for up to six months.

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