Zuppa di pesce alla napoletana (Neapolitan-Style Fish Stew)

📝 Ingredients

• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 peperoncino (or a pinch of red pepper flakes)
• Olive oil
• A can of best quality San Marzano tomatoes (passed through a food mill)
• Salt and pepper
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley (finely chopped)
• A splash of white wine
• An assortment of mollusks (such as squid, baby cuttlefish or octopus, cut into bite-sized pieces)
• An assortment of firm-fleshed fish of your choice (such as monkfish cut into large chunks)
• Shrimp (crayfish and/or sea scallops)
• Clams and/or mussels

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Begin by sautéing a few slightly crushed garlic cloves in abundant olive oil. If you like, you can add a bit of peperoncino to sauté in the olive oil along with the garlic.
2. 2When the garlic begins to give off its aroma and is just barely beginning to brown, add tomato. Season with salt and pepper (going light on the salt since the shellfish will be salty) and finely chopped parsley, then allow the tomatoes to simmer for about 10 minutes or so, or until they begin to reduce and reach a saucy consistency. Then add a splash of white wine.
3. 3Add your seafood, starting with the varieties that take the longest to cook, then progressively adding those that take less time: Begin with the mollusks. With very young calamaretti (baby cuttlefish) let them simmer about 10 minutes before you add any other fish. Octopus or mature squid (which you should cut up into bite-sized pieces) will take much longer, usually about 30 minutes.
4. 4Then add the fish and let that cook for another five to ten minutes, depending on the size.
5. 5Then add shrimp or scallops, if using, along with the clams and mussels and simmer them until they open.
6. 6Sprinkle with a bit more finely chopped parsley and serve immediately.