Cioppino Recipe: Traditional San Francisco Fisherman's Soup

In case you're wondering, cioppino comes from the Italian word for "to chop" since this soup traditionally consisted of lots of chopped up seafood from the fishermen's boats in San Francisco!

• 12 clams in shell, thoroughly cleaned
• 1 pound large shrimp (30 per pound) shelled and deveined
• 2 live or cooked large Dungeness crab (about 2 pounds each) cleaned and cracked
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 15-oz can tomato sauce
• 1 28-ounce can tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon basil, minced
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano

In a large pan over medium heat, combine the oil, onion, garlic, bell pepper and the parsley. Stir until onions are soft.

Add the tomato sauce and tomatoes, breaking up any large pieces of tomato with the spoon or a metal spatula. Add the wine, bay leaf, and the herbs. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer, about 20 minutes.

When mixture is slightly thickened, add the shrimp, clams and crab. Cover and simmer gently until the clams open, and the shrimp turn pink, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve. (Don't forget some sourdough bread!)


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