Brodetto Marchigiano #VigiliaDiNatale #FishFridayFoodies

This month, the Fish Friday Foodies, with Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories, is serving up a virtual La Vigilia which is short for La Vigilia di Natale. You can read more about that in my round-up I'm sharing for the event at the end of the week. But this is what I am offering as my fifth (seafood stew) course: Brodetto.

Brodetto was historically made by fishermen in Le Marche with the leftovers of their catch or damaged fish and so included many different types of fish and seafood.

Ingredients serves 6 to 8

• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
• 2 California bay leaves
• 6 C broth or stock (I use organic chicken stock)
• 1 C clam juice
• one 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• one 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 C red wine
• 1 T hot sauce or 1 t dried red pepper flakes
• 1 pound wild caught large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound wild caught salmon, deboned and cubed
• 1 pound squid, cleaned (I like a mixture of tubed - sliced - and tentacles)
• 1 pound clams or mussels (for this pot, I couldn't find clams)
• 1 T fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
• 1 C fresh parsley, chopped
• freshly ground salt, to taste
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Also needed: bread, for serving

Procedure

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot. Add in the garlic, onions, and bay leaves. Cook till aromatic, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in the stock, clam juice, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, and hot sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

While stew is simmering, prep your seafood. Add the seafood to the pot, timing so that the ones that will take the longest to cook will be done around the same time as the ones that need to barely be blanched. Add in the mussels and cook until they open. Discard the mussels that don't open.

Discard bay leaves, then gently stir in parsley and oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve brodetto immediately in large soup bowls with hunks of bread.

A note: If you want to save some time on the day you're serving this, you can make the broth the day before. Let cool completely, then refrigerate. Bring the broth to a simmer before adding the seafood.