I made this for a birthday dinner a couple of years ago and remembered to write it down. My dad was still with us at the time and he was not always a big fan of seafood, but he liked this one. It was a good day. We dined at a local “deli” type restaurant for lunch and had smoked whitefish salad and Portobello-melt sandwiches, and this place had a great pickle bar; just like a salad bar but it’s all pickles that they make on-site.

There are a lot of ingredients for this recipe but it’s worth it and it’s real adjustable. You could easily cut it in half, or just as easily double it if you had a big crew to feed.

You’ll need:

3-4 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of butter
4-6 flat fillets of anchovies, drained, chopped and mashed with a spoon to make a paste
10-12 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped fine
1 large white onion, diced
4-6 celery ribs, chopped (I like to use the whole heart section)
2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary (remove before adding the seafood)

¼ to ½ cup white sugar
2 cups white wine

2-14 oz. cans chicken stock (I like low sodium)
2-28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes (pieces or chunks (diced) for one of the cans is OK)
Fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste
1 Bay leaf
A loaf of fresh crusty bread for sopping up broth

For the fish, it’s very option based, dependent upon what you like and what’s available. Your selection should include some kind of clams or mussels, well cleaned, and they make a really nice presentation and taste great. Keep in mind that some seafood cooks really quickly and some take some time, so deposit in your broth appropriately. For this batch we used:

1 pound cooked medium shrimp (tails pulled if you prefer)
½ pound sea scallops
2 dozen little-neck clams, scrubbed and rinsed
4 haddock fillets (about 4 pounds) cut into chunks

In a large stock pot over medium heat, combine the oil and butter. Sauté the onion, garlic and celery until softened. (Onion first, then garlic…helps for not burning the garlic) Add the anchovies and incorporate. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the seafood. Bring the broth to a nice simmer but don’t boil. Let it steep for 20-30 minutes. Taste for seasoning adjustment. Remove the bay leaf and the rosemary sprigs.

Clams went in first and after they had opened I put in the shrimp for just about 3 minutes and then carefully placed the scallops and fish pieces in the broth being careful to not stir too aggressively, if at all. The scallops and fish will be cooked to tender done-ness in a very short time, just a couple of minutes, so have bowls ready for ladling before you put in the fast cooking seafood. I like to pile up some clams and other seafood in the middle of the bowl with broth ladled over the top. You can pop a sprig of parsley on top if you’d like and make sure to serve that good crusty bread with each bowl. Enjoy!

Flexibility Options