The first time I had a seafood Ciopinno, it was in San Francisco. The air was cold and crisp and I remember savoring every bite of that delicious, hot, seafood laden soup. It was bright and tangy with the tomatoes and had an interesting depth of flavor. The seafood was very fresh and the soup was served with hot freshly baked garlic bread on the side. The bread was perfect to dip into the soup base after all the seafood was finished.

I never quite had the confidence to attempt this soup in the past. Partly becasue I was not sure about how to select good quality seafood and partly becasue I was not sure i knew how to cook seafood well. But now, I am a lot more comfortable with buying and cooking seafood so I attempted to make this soup. And I am so glad I did! Not only was I able to further bolster my confidence in preparing different kinds of seafood, I was able to re-create the taste I had been missing for a very long time.

The soup base itself is very simple. I choose to use canned tomatoes in this soup for the sake of consistency in flavor and texture everytime I make it. Plus it saves me the effort of trying to peel the tomatoes I use. I am not very fond of tomato skin floating in my soup bowl. For the seafood I used prawns, squid, mussels and white fish. You can also add scallops, clams to this.

The most important factor in making this soup is the correct order in which the seafood is added to the pot. My preference is to start with the fish followed by mussels and prawns, topped with the squid in the end after cooking the rest of the ingredients for 2-3 minutes atleast. Squid cooks very quickly so should be added at the end to prevent it from becoming thick and rubbery. The other important part is to cook it over a slow fire to ensure all the seafood remains soft and retains its sweetness.

Ingredients:

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 can peeled tomatoes

2 small bay leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley/coriander leaves

2 cups chicken/seafood stock

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves or 2 tsp fresh chopped basil leaves

pizza chilli to taste (optional)

salt & pepper to taste

Seafood:

2 cups fresh Mussels

1/2 cup fresh squid (cut into rings)

1/2 cup white fish fillet diced

1/2 cup fresh prawns

You can also include scallops, clams or any other seafood choices

Method:

1. Clean the seafood - wash and scrub the mussels. Discard any mussels which may have opened. Clean the squid from the inside, remove the tube inside and cut into rings. Remove the shell and tails from the prawns and devein them. Remove any bones and skin from the fish and cut into pieces.

2. Add 1 tsp olive oil to a pot and add the chopped onions, garlic, peppers and garlic to it. Cook for 5-7 minutes over medium heat till the vegetables are soft.

3. Add the diced canned tomatoes to a food processor and pulse till smooth. Add the tomatoes to the vegetables in the pot. Add the bay leaves and stir. Cook over medium heat till the tomatoes have dried out slightly. Add salt, pepper and basil leaves and the stock. Boil the soup for 3-5 minutes.

4. Lower the flame and add the seafood once at a time. Start with the fish at the bottom. Cook for 2-3 minutes over low heat. Add the mussels and cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Once the mussels have started to open, add the prawns, cook for a minute and top it with the squid and cook for another minute over low heat. Once the seafood looks done, taste the soup for seasoning and top up if needed. Add pizza chilli flakes if desired.

5. Top up with fresh coriander/parsley. Ladle the soup into big bowls and serve with freshly prepared slices of garlic bread.