Recipe: Dinah Shore's Cioppino (make ahead, 1970's)

DINAH SHORE'S CIOPPINO

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped onion
1 leek, trim, chop finely
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 green bell peppers, cut into strips
4 cups imported tomatoes, peel and chop
1 cup fresh or canned tomato sauce
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
Red pepper flakes
2 cups fish stock
1 cup fresh or bottled clam juice
1 cup dry white wine
1 pound striped bass or other firm-fleshed fish filets, cut bite-size
1/2 pound fresh bay scallops
1 pound raw shrimp, shell and devein
12 small clams in the shell, wash well
1/4 cup oysters, shuck, with liquor
1/2 pound lobster tail, cook in shell
1 crab, cook in shell, crack

Heat the oil and butter in a kettle and add the onion, leek, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are lightly browned.

Add the green peppers and continue cooking, stirring, until peppers wilt.

Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, basil, and about 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Add the fish stock and cook slowly about 2 hours, stirring often to prevent burning. More fish stock may be added if desired.

Add the clam juice and wine and continue cooking about 10 minutes.

The soup may be made in advance to this point.

TWENTY MINUTES OR SO BEFORE SERVING:
Return the soup to the boil and add the striped bass or other fish. Cook about 5 minutes and add the scallops and shrimp. Simmer about 8 minutes and add the clams, oysters, lobster tail, and crab. Cook, stirring gently, about 5 minutes or until the clams open.

Serve in very hot soup bowls with red pepper flakes on the side.

Makes 10 servings
Source: Craig Claiborne's Favorites from The New York Times, 1975