Zuppa di Pesce alla Calabrese
A vibrant Calabrian fish stew simmered with ripe plum tomatoes, garlic, and spicy peperoncino, served piping hot over thick toasted rustic bread.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 480 kcal
Equipment
- •Large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven
- •Tongs
- •Ladle
- •Chef knife
- •Toaster or griddle pan
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- fat
- 16 g
- carbs
- 36 g
- fibre
- 3 g
- protein
- 48 g
- calories
- 480 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Warm the extra virgin olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium heat.
- 2
Add the sliced garlic and crushed chilli flakes, frying for one minute until fragrant.
- 3
Add the sliced squid and cook for three minutes until opaque.
- 4
Pour in the dry white wine and let it bubble until reduced by half.
- 5
Stir in the hand-crushed plum tomatoes, warm fish stock, and a pinch of salt.
- 6
Lower the heat and simmer the broth gently for fifteen minutes.
- 7
Add the chunks of firm fish and simmer gently for four minutes.
- 8
Add the whole prawns and scrubbed mussels, then cover the pot with a lid.
- 9
Cook for four to five minutes until the mussels open and prawns turn pink.
- 10
Discard any mussels that remain tightly shut and stir in the chopped parsley.
- 11
Place a thick slice of toasted rustic bread into the bottom of four bowls.
- 12
Ladle the seafood and rich spicy tomato broth generously over the bread.
Chef's tips
Stagger the seafood additions precisely so tender varieties like prawns and fish do not overcook. For the richest broth, use fish stock made from rockfish trimmings or whole small fish heads.
Ingredient substitutions
- dried Calabrian chilli flakes (peperoncino) → one small fresh red chilli, finely chopped
- Cirò Bianco → any dry Italian white wine such as Greco or Trebbiano
- pane casereccio → thick slices of toasted rustic sourdough bread
Storage
Store leftover seafood and broth separately from the bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one day.
Reheating
Reheat gently in a small pot over low heat until just simmering, taking care not to overcook the fish.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Boiling the soup vigorously, which breaks delicate fish flesh into tiny fragments.
- •Adding all the seafood at once, causing the squid and prawns to become tough and rubbery.
- •Failing to discard mussels that refuse to open during cooking.
Serving suggestions
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