Caciucco

Our traditional Christmas eve dinner is a Tuscan dish, introduced to
me by my sister-in-law. I practically had to wrestle her for the
recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1 red chile pepper, minced
1 small lobster, in the shell
1 pound shrimp, in the shell
1 medium squid, cleaned and sliced into rings
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup hot water
10 ounces plum tomatoes, puréed
1 pound fresh mussels
1 pound fresh clams
2 small red snapper, filleted and cut into pieces
1 pound firm white fish, cut into pieces
8 thin slices firm bread
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, sauté the onion, carrot, celery,
parsley and chile and cook about 5 minutes. Add the lobster, shrimp
and squid and mix well. Cook gently for about 10 minutes. Add the wine
and water.

Remove the lobster and shrimp, add the tomatoes and simmer for 10
minutes. Taste and correct the seasonings. Reserve the mixture.

Steam the mussels and clams until just open. Strain the liquid and add
to the soup, along with the reserved crustaceans and the fish. Toast
the bread and rub with the garlic. Place in the bottom of a large
tureen. Pour the mixture over and serve very hot, with lots more
crusty Italian bread.

Source: Chef2Chef Forum Member, Chef Ruth Lantz


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