Cioppino - Easier to Make Than It Is to Pronounce

Ok, enough with the sugar.

Let's move on to some adult-oriented, healthful and truly delicious food. Did I mention easy?

This cioppino (say "cha-pea-no" - a fancy word for fish stew) is quick enough for a weeknight dinner, but elegant enough to serve to company.

Lucky for me, I still had some shellfish in the freezer, left over from our Christmas seafood extravaganza. So when I invited Debbie-Next-Door and her husband over for dinner last week, what to make was an easy decision. While we sipped our wine and chatted about their recent trip to Spain (where it rained and snowed the entire time), I cooked dinner.
Very little thinking involved.

You could really use any kind of seafood you like in this. I had the lobster and shrimp, then I bought a half pound of clams (shucked) and a half pound of scallops, which I cut in half because they're so large.
Any kind of firm fish filet could replace the lobster.
Canned clams are fine, if you don't live in Maine, in which case you have no excuse for not using fresh.
Said the woman from Yarmouth, home of the annual Clam Festival.

Serve with a green salad and some grilled bread, and you've got dinner.
For dessert, just help yourself to some candy from your kids' Easter baskets.

Quick Cioppino
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens


6 oz. firm fish fillet, such as snapper, halibut or cod, cut into 1" pieces

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced (or more to taste)

1 can (14.5 oz) San Marzano tomatoes, undrained, broken up with your fingers

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce (I like Muir Glen)

1/2 cup white wine, or clam juice (bottled is fine)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano (or 1/4 tsp. dried)

2 Tbsp. sliced fresh basil

6 oz. chopped clams

4 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined

salt and pepper, to taste
crushed red pepper, to taste

optional:
4 oz. fresh lobster (cooked) or scallops (cut in half if very large)

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
 Add bell pepper and onion. Cook until slightly softened, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
Add undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, and wine or clam juice. Bring to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer, 10 minutes.

Add fish, undrained clams, shrimp and any other seafood you have. Bring just to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer 6-8 minutes, or just until fish begins to flake easily and shellfish is lightly cooked through. Mix in parsley, basil, crushed red pepper to taste, and salt and pepper.