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Layered Crab Cioppino
2 cans (26 oz each) tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons pepper
1 quart (about 10 oz) coarsely chopped Swiss chard
2 large (about 1 lb total) red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
2 tablespoons each chopped fresh marjoram leaves, rosemary leaves, thyme
leaves, and sage leaves or 2 teaspoons of each dried herb
3 dozen small hard shelled clams suitable for steaming
3 dozen extra jumbo (about 2 lb total, 16 to 20 per lb.) shrimp
2 large (about 2 lb each) cooked Dungeness crab, cleaned and cracked
2 pounds firm white fish such as rockfish, rinsed and cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt
In a large bowl, coarsely mash tomatoes. Stir in tomato paste,
wine, oil, pepper, chard, bell pepper, parsley, basil, marjoram,
rosemary, thyme, and sage. Scrub clams. Discard gaping ones that
won't start to close when touched; they're dead. To devein shrimp,
insert tip of a slender skewer under vein between segments of shell
along back and gently pull up. Repeat on each shrimp; rinse well.
Arrange clams in the bottom of a heavy 12- to 14- quart pan. Spoon
1/4 of the tomato mixture over clams. Layer shrimp, 1/4 tomato
mixture, crab, 1/4 tomato mixture, fish, and remaining tomato
mixture (12-qt. pan may be full to rim). cover tightly and bring
to a boil over high heat, 10 to 20 minutes. Simmer gently until
fish is opaque but still moist looking in thickest part (cut to
test), 15 to 20 minutes. Ladle into wide bowls; dig deep to scoop
from each layer. Add salt to taste. Serves 12.
Flavor options. To tomato mixture, add 2 to 4 (2- inch long) fresh
red chilies, stemmed, seeded, and minced and 1 cup chopped onion
or green onion. Replace fish chunks with 2 pounds sea scallops,
rinsed and drained.
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Cioppino 07