Sicilian Seafood Stew

Recipe Review: Savory Seafood Stew with classic Italian flavors

It's Fall. I know this not from the calendar, or the weather (It was around 75 last weekend) but because I'm craving soups and stews. I haven't had this in years but suddenly I had a really intense craving for the seafood stew my mom used to make. It has the most amazing flavor, the oregano and the peppers give it a really unique taste that's hard for me to describe. (I know I know that was really helpful) Its not "fishy" at all, rather it's savory. I get really nervous putting clam juice into things because it smells so fishy out of the bottle, but don't be scared! I know this isn't the best photo- but this stuff is so good! (you try photographing seafood stew and making it look yummy- no easy task) Its pretty hearty on its own, but a side of french bread is nice so you have something to soak up the extra liquid with.

Sicilian Seafood Stew
yield: 4-6 servings
source: my mom

1 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup celery, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
large pinch of crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons fresh marjoram of 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
16 oz bottled clam juice
1 29 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup red wine
1/3 lb scallops, rinsed
1/3 lb shelled raw shrimp
1/3 lb white fish, cubed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon capers

In a large soup over medium high heat pot saute onions in olive oil for 2 minutes.

Add celery, red and green peppers and saute for 2 minutes

Stir in garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, basil and marjoram. Lower the heat, over and cook for 2 minutes.

Add clam juice, tomatoes, and wine. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add seafood and cook for about 4 minutes until scallops are no longer opaque and the shrimp are just pink.

Stir in lemon juice and season with black pepper to taste

Top each serving with capers and serve.

printable recipe

This is a classic family recipe that I grew up eating. My mom got the recipe from a coworker- so the original source is unknown. I added some white fish which is something my mom didn't do but its a bit more economical than shrimp and scallops. Next time Kevin wants to try throwing in some mussels and making it more of a cioppino. Happy Fall! soups and stews, hot tea, PUMPKIN (!!!!) ahh I love this seaon.



Warm Tomato Bruschetta

Recipe Review- Classic Bruschetta- capers are the secret ingredient!

One of my hobbies outside of the kitchen is running. (Gotta work off all that food somehow!) One of the best parts of going on a long run is knowing that you can eat something amazing afterwards, and also getting to carb load before a big race. Kevin and I were getting ready for the La Jolla Half marathon, so we invited a few running friends over and made a big pot of pasta, chicken Parmesan, garlic bread, and some bruschetta as an appetizer. Bruchetta is one of my favorite things to make when people are coming over for dinner. The prep is rather simple, everyone seems to like it, and I'll take any excuse to eat some capers.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Recipe Review- Basic Tomato Sauce & Meatballs over Spaghetti- Traditional Italian Comfort Food

A lot of times I do food projects on Sundays. Usually if I'm going to attempt something new or fancy I like to give myself a good amount of of time. Except this Sunday I didn't have the cooking bug. It was rainy and cold out. I was sore from a long run the day before, and totally had that curl up with a blanket with hot chocolate vibe- not my normal "I'm gonna cook! I'm so excited!" enthusiasm. I did want to cook something... just not something labor intensive. Apparently when I read the recipe for homemade tomato sauce and it included blanching, peeling, seeding and chopping 4 lbs of tomatoes, my brain didn't think that was labor intensive. Instead I had visions of sauce simming on the stove for hours, my house smelling like Italian spices food, me leisurely stirring the sauce every once in a while, sprinkling in a little extra basil here, some oregano there.

Spinach & Pesto Chicken Rollatini

Recipe Review: Chicken, Pesto and Spinach- whats not to like? Looks fancy but its not- Can be prepped early and thrown in the oven later, 

I get so tired of just marinating and grilling chicken. It's quick and easy to make, but I get burnt out on chicken really fast that way. So I was looking for a new way to make chicken to jazz things up. Last fall I made asparagus stuffed chicken and really enjoyed the way the pesto tasted on the baked chicken. Some googling (and perhaps some olive garden ads) led me to the idea of doing a chicken "rollatini". Basically its a way to make stuffed chicken where you pound the chicken really thin and then roll it up with the stuffing inside. If done right when sliced you will have pretty little chicken pinwheels. I thought this would be good to make ahead and just pop in the oven, and it was!

Eggplant Parmesan

Recipe Review: Your traditional Eggplant Parmesan, lightened. Great classic Italian flavors

How come when I have the whole day off to cook I still end up rushing around and not having dinner made on time? Maybe because I'm always being overly ambitious and trying to make at least 3 things at the same time and have them all come out of the oven at the same time. The whole point of this dinner was to make things ahead of time so that I could throw them all in the oven half an hour before we wanted to eat, but naturally I bit off more than I could chew so everything ended up being cooked right away- and even then dinner was half an hour late- but more than worth waiting for!

I got new issue of shape magazine in the mail this weekend and it had a recipe for revamped Eggplant Parmesan that looked yummy so I went for and Italian theme for the evening. I made spinach and pesto chicken rollatini to go with the eggplant "nonparm". If you've been following the blog for a while you probably know that my boyfriend hates cheese, so I left out the Parmesan and only sprinkled mozzarella on half of the eggplant. I hate to admit it since I love cheese, but when you're trying to be health conscious, leaving the cheese out of things certainly does help cut calories. I'm writing up the recipe as intended, but know that if you are lactose intolerant, have food allergies, or are just plain crazy and don't like cheese this still tastes great without it.

Three Bean Pasta Fagioli Soup

Recipe Review: Hearty Italian Soup that's filling but not heavy

I'm feeling crappy and sick. So that means that I make soup. I usually don't have much of an appetite when I'm not feeling well, and like to stick to soups and hot tea. I had planned on making this before I started feeling bad, so only needed to grab a few things. I took a slew of cold medicine, washed it down with some green tea, waited 20 minutes for it all to kick in and got to chopping (side note: Kevin got me an amazing set of knives for Christmas I got to use it for the first time to chop up the veggies in this soup).  I adapted the soup from this crock pot recipe, but changed up the beans and the ingredient ratio a bit.

Beef Ragu (aka Meat Sauce)

It was cool and rainy here for a change and I had the day off from work so I decided to make homemade meat sauce. (I fancied up the name to beef ragu for the title) 

Side note- yes it gets cold and cloudy and rainy here in San Diego. I know the California tourism ad's would lead you to think differently but its not true. When you live in a place for long enough your body adjusts to its climate (This is scientifically documented) So yes when the temperature is below 65 degrees it feels cold to me!

The recipe needs to simmer for 3 hours minimum, but it occurred to me that you could probably cook it in a slow cooker if you weren't able to wait around while it cooks down.