Brodetto Abruzzese ("Heaven" in Italian I am pretty sure)

That's God's arm going for that soup!!! ...Alright, it's my Father In-law, but I suspect God has hairy arms too.

I am pretty sure you cannot make a bad fish soup unless you go out of the way to do so. I have never tried, but I am convinced that if you took fresh fish, salt water, and heat, the result would be amazing. The fact that we are able to add such wondrous ingredients like fennel, saffron, and tomato only shows me that God is a foodie.

To me, this is the perfect dish. A) Totally get to use my crock pot. B) Totally get to eat half of what comes out of the Adriatic, and C) Totally have to make my own bread for it.

Recipe as follows;

Brodetto Abruzzese

Ingredients

1.5 Kg Assorted fish (Monkfish, John Dory, Halibut) but avoid more oily fishies like Salmon, and Sardines…

1 Sliced Onion
1 Cubed Fennel Stock
½ Stock of Celery Cut
1 Diced Carrot
4 tbsp. Red Wine Vin.
1 Bay Leaf
500g. Calamari (SQUIDINI!!!)
7 tbsp. EVOO (NOT 6 GOT IT!?)
3 Cloves of Garlic
Chili (TT)
2 Diced Tomatoes
1 Tsp. Tomato Paste
Saffron (Pinch)
Salt and Pepper (TT)
Fresh Chopped Flat Leaf Italian Parsley
1 kg. Mussels (and toss in a few clams to be sooooo awesome)
150ml. Dry White Wine (Drink the other 600ml while cooking this…)

Method

1) -Make a stock with the fish bones.

2) -Sweat the veg (Mirepoix) and delaze with the stock. Add the chili, tomato, and tomato paste.

3) -Bring to a light simmer and add the Squidini. Let cook for 1 hour.

4) - Using the white wine, cook the mussels (and awesome clams). Add everything (juice and all) into the soup.

5)-Add the remaining ingredients in for perfection.


For your amusement, I have attached an interesting link about 50 culinary words you may not know...