Whether you call it cioppino, ciupin, cacciucco, or buridda, I think this is a quintessential Italian seafood stew. It's made with whatever seafood is readily available; the flavor combinations are all very Italian. And just as every, and I do mean every, Italian dish is made differently by each Italian cook, here's my version...
Whenever I get a bunch of fresh herbs, I love to make pesto. So, when Forage to Pantry brought me an armload of lemon balm from her garden, pesto it was. And my favorite thing on which to spoon pesto is this Italian soup. Done!
Lemon Balm Pesto
Pesto is a sauce that originated in the Ligurian region of northern Italy. Pesto genovese, from Genoa, traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil, and pine nuts blended with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano. The name derives from the Italian verb pestare which means to pound or to crush, referring to the original way of preparing it - with a mortar and pestle. The ingredients in a traditional pesto are ground with a circular motion of the pestle in the mortar. Now I use a food processor or a blender. It's much easier! And...I use whatever greens and nuts I happen to have on-hand. So, for this version, I was inspired by Nicole's lemon balm and I had pistachios in the pantry
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Ingredients
Pesto
2 cups fresh lemon balm leaves, rinsed, dried, and destemmed
1 cup fresh mint leaves, rinsed, dried, and destemmed
4 to 5 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup whole raw pistachios
3/4 cup shredded pecorino
juice from 1 organic lemon (I used Meyer lemon because my parents have a tree in their backyard)
olive oil as needed
Soup
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced, approximately 1 cup
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced, approximately 1 cup
1 cup diced potatoes
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup diced celery
2 Tablespoons butter
olive oil
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
pinch of saffron
2 cups fresh tomato sauce
6 to 7 cups vegetable stock (or fish stock)
1 cup dry white wine
3 bay leaves
2 to 3 pounds seafood (I used chunks of halibut)
splash of any licorice-flavored liqueur or licorice extract (I used Liquore Strega)
salt and pepper to taste
bread and pesto for serving
Procedure
Procedure
Pesto
Place all of the ingredients into the blender or the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times, drizzle in a few glugs of olive oil, and resume pulsing. Pulse. Oil. Pulse. Oil. If you want a smoother, sauce-like pesto, add more olive oil and blend longer; if you want a chunkier pesto, use less oil and blend for less time. So simple. So fresh. So fragrant.
Soup
Brown onions, fennel, carrots, and celery in a large stockpot with a butter and a splash of olive oil. Add anise seeds, fennel seeds, and a pinch of saffron. Cook till everything begins to soften and the onions have become translucent. Stir in the potatoes.
Pour in the tomato sauce, stock, wine, and bay leaves. Stir and bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes to let the flavors meld nicely and the potatoes are cooked through.
Add and cook your seafood. Once everything has cooked, pour in a splash of licorice-flavored liqueur. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle into individual bowls and serve with a dollop of pesto on top. Serve with bread on the side for sopping up the broth as you eat. Pronto al tavolo!
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