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From the galley:

Wild Alaskan Seafood cioppino

utilizes: spot prawns, lingcod 

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An Italian classic with an Alaskan twist, we utilized whatever seafood we had on hand to make this cioppino, and hope you'll do the same.  

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The basics are what matters here: quality stock, and variety of seafood. We used lingcod, octopus, and prawns because it's what we had available. But scallops, halibut, mussels, rockfish, and clams all make great additions. 

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The most important step is order of operations when adding seafood.

 

Generally, your fleshy whitefish cut into 2" chunks will take the longest - add these first. Scallops will take about as long as whitefish, perhaps 7 minutes. Shrimp will only take 2 minutes, and the same goes for clams and mussels.

 

If everything's added at the same time, your shrimp will be far overdone by the time the cod cooks through. Just work by feel - as soon as your whitefish flakes, it's time to add shellfish.  

If using fresh (raw) octopus like we did, boil it for about an hour before adding to the cioppino. You'll know its ready when it's easily penetrated by a bamboo skewer. 

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If you're purchasing octopus from your local fish counter, it'll likely already be cooked. Whew, that means the hard part's over! All it needs is to be diced, and added to the cioppino at the end - just to warm through. 

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Two final notes:

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1. Best enjoyed when mopped up with ample amounts of crusty bread.

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2. Also best enjoyed with a group of friends.

 

Dig in!  

Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min    Prep Time: 1 hr   Serving Size: 5-6

ingredients:

  • Good olive oil

  • 2 cups diced (1/2") fennel bulb

  • 1.5 cups diced (1/2") yellow onion

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 tsp whole dried fennel seeds

  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

  • 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

  • 4 cups seafood stock

  • 1.5 cups dry white wine, such as pinot grigio

  • Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

  • 1 lb lingcod or other skinless, boneless whitefish - diced into 2' peices

  • 1 lb spot prawns, thawed and peeled

  • 1 lb octopus, boiled for 1 hour then diced

  • 3tbsp fresh minced Italian parsley 

Directions:

  1. ​ Prep our seafood stock, or purchase high quality from the store

  2. Over medium heat, warm 1/4 cup olive oil in large, heavy stockpot. Add fennel and onion, saute for 10 minutes.

  3. Stir in garlic, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes - cook for 2 additional minutes.

  4. Add tomatoes, stock, wine, octopus, 1/2 tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and bring to a boil. 

  5. Turn down the heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes

  6. Seafood addition order matters. First add lingcod (or whatever your largest raw chunks are), and cook for 8 minutes. Then add raw, peeled prawns and cook for an additional 3 minutes. The more cook time the better for the octopus, which is why we added it along with the tomatoes.

  7. Remove from heat, cover, and allow to rest for 3 minutes before serving. 

  8. Sprinkle with parsley, serve with hot garlic toasts.

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