San Francisco is the home of cioppino, a zesty fish and shellfish stew. You’ll often find it made with crab, but sweet (and shell-free) calamari is a quick-cooking and delicious substitute for the crustacean. Serve this with plenty of crusty sourdough bread.
Yield : 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 pound skinless cod fillets
- 6 ounces cleaned calamari
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup hearty red wine, such as Zinfandel or Shiraz
- Two 14½-ounce cans chopped tomatoes with Italian herbs
Directions
Prep: Chop onion. Cut off and discard seeds and ribs from green pepper; cut pepper into ½-inch dice. Finely chop garlic. Cut cod into 1-inch pieces. Cut calamari crosswise into ¼-inch-wide rings. Coarsely chop calamari tentacles, if any.
1. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven or covered flameproof casserole over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes.
2. Stir in red wine, then tomatoes with their juices, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and partially cover pot. Simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add cod and cook for 3 minutes. Add calamari and cook until it is tender and cod is cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve hot.
Variation
Leave out the red wine and use ½ cup bottled clam juice.
Substitute ½ cup peeled and deveined medium shrimp (26–30 count) for calamari.
Season with crushed hot red pepper flakes instead of freshly ground pepper.
Notes
For cooking, look for full-bodied red wines with a bit of acidity. Zinfandel and Shiraz are good choices, but Merlot may be too fruity and Beaujolais is a bit thin bodied.
© 2005 Leslie Revsin
Would you like to leave a comment about this recipe?
Add a comment