The renowned Italian fish stew, Cacciucco, has its roots in the Tuscany coast region and is said to have been innovated by fishermen who brought together the day’s catch to create a delectable and substantial seafood stew. Nowadays, Cacciucco enjoys widespread popularity in Italy and beyond, due to its rich heritage and knack for highlighting the freshness of the seafood used.

This is the perfect stew to make when you have fresh tomatoes, garlic and parsley growing in the garden!

Ingredients for Cacciucco

• 6 large garlic cloves – finely chopped
• 8 roma tomatoes – roughly cut
• 1 bunch Italian parsley – chopped
• 1 – 16oz filet of white fish – sea bass is the best but Atlantic cod or halibut works well too
• ½ pound large peeled and deveined shrimp
• ¼ pound – mussels or clams
• 1 baguette
• 1 box of pasta – Preferably penne or something that hold the sauce.
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Cacciucco

First Course

1. Turn stove to medium / high heat. Use a large skillet or even a paella pan. Add olive oil to the pan.
2. Finely chop garlic and parsley. Add to pan and sauté for 4 to 5 mins while turning the heat to medium. Just don’t overcook the garlic.
3. Add the roughly chopped tomatoes and continue stirring. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. To help, you can use a potato masher on the tomatoes to speed up the sauce emulsion process.
4. Cook the sauce for about 8 mins on a medium / low heat.
5. Cut your fish filet into serving size chunks and place in sauce to poach the fish. Add the shrimp and mussels. After about 3 minutes turn the fish and shrimp. Once the mussels open cook for one more minute and it should be done. If a mussel doesn’t open, throw it out.
6. Put the skillet in the middle of your table and serve from there. Always heat up some crusty bread and butter to soak up the sauce.

Second Course

Bring your fish skillet back to stove and put over low heat to keep warm. Bring pan of water to a boil. Salt the water, but not overly sense the sauce is already seasoned. Cook pasta until al dente (firm but not overly firm/crunchy) about 9 mins. Add a ladle of the pasta water to the sauce. This will help thicken the sauce. Add the heavy cream and mix with the sauce. Strain your pasta and add to the skillet. Combine the pasta with the sauce gently and take the skillet back to the table to serve.

This stew is absolutely amazing and everyone will enjoy it.