This stew is, despite its name, one of the top dishes of Californian cuisine. Created by a Genoese immigrant living in San Francisco, it has become a sumptuous stew of fish, shellfish, tomato and wine that is never lacking in restaurants on the west coast of the United States.
INGREDIENTS (4/6 people) :
- 400 grams (14 oz) of mussels with their shell
- 400 grams (14 oz) of clams
- 400 grams (14 oz) of prawns
- 400 grams (14 oz) of assorted fish (preferably supreme clean of bones such as monkfish, hake, etc.)
- 1 can of 800 grams (1.8 lbs) of peeled and whole red tomatoes, in their juice
- 300 ml (1 cup and a half) of white wine
- 1 large fennel bulb
- 1 large red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 liter (5 cups) of fish broth
- 1 small can of bell peppers
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- extra virgin olive oil
Before starting to cook, soak the clams in abundantly salted water to remove the sand.
We make thin slices of the fennel bulb.
Finely chop the onion and the garlic cloves, without the green germ.
Pour a generous stream of oil into a large, deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion and minced garlic. Let cook until the onion is transparent. Add the fish and brown it.
When the fish has browned, add the tomato paste and the can of very finely chopped bell peppers. Poach for about 2 minutes and then add the can of tomatoes including the juice from which we have previously removed the seeds.
With a fork we crumble the tomatoes, being careful not to damage the fish. Then add the wine, the fish broth and the bay leaf.
We cover the pot and let it cook this way, over medium heat, for half an hour.
Uncover the pan and add the clams and mussels. Let them cook for about 5 minutes until they start to open. Then add the completely peeled prawns and let cook another 5 minutes exactly. At that time we remove the mussels and clams that have not been opened.
We rectify the salt and proceed to plate, distributing the shellfish and fish in the bowls, as well as a ladle of soup.
You can already imagine how this wonder tastes.