Updated w pic - Uncle Art's Easy Cioppino (Seafood & tomato stew)

Quick and Dirty Cioppino

If you fly to San Francisco you can get the best Cioppino made from scratch with freshly caught seafood. In St Louis you can spend hours making the sauce from scratch but then you are still limited to frozen and canned seafood. My method makes pretty good Cioppino with very little effort, at a reasonable price. Some quantities are approximate, depending on what is available.

Ingredients:

1 24 ounce jar of San Francisco Style Cioppino Sauce from DiGregorio’s on The Hill

1 15 ounce can of crushed (or diced) tomatoes (see Cento can pic below)

12 ounces frozen whitefish (cod, halibut, tilapia, etc.) cut into bite size pieces when thawed

12 ounces frozen scallops, cut into bite size pieces when thawed

12 ounces frozen shrimp, shells and tails removed. Precooked is easiest and quickest

(Frozen seafood is cheapest at Ruler Foods, Kroger’s budget chain)

5 ounce can baby clams (packed in juice, so put the juice in too)

5 ounce can crabmeat (drain first, because it’s packed in water)

Option: ½ cup or so of sliced fresh fennel, or a tablespoon or so of fennel seed

In a medium size kettle: simmer sauce and crushed tomatoes (& fennel seed if using). Add whitefish, simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Add scallops, simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Add clams and crabmeat (fresh fennel if using), simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Add precooked shrimp, bring to simmer. If using uncooked shrimp simmer with sauce in beginning. Serve. 

Serve with good bread, toasted if you want. Or top with a spoonful of sour cream. 

        Here's what the Cioppino looks like, not including the slice of crusty bread or croutons: