Recipe: Red Snapper Cioppino

Red Snapper Cioppino

(Italian Seafood Stew)

by Joe LaVilla

(serves 4)

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, julienned
1 small fennel bulb, julienned
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup fish stock (or bottled clam broth)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon crushed chile flakes
1 bay leaf
1 small zucchini, cut into thin strips
salt and pepper
4 red snapper fillets, 4 oz each
greens from tops of fennel bulbs

1. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the oil, then the onion, fennel and garlic. Sauté until just begins to wilt and get brown.

2. Add white wine, and allow to boil for about 1 minute to burn off the alcohol. Add the fish stock, tomatoes, chiles and bay leaf. Allow to return to a boil.

3. Trim the stem and blossom ends of the zucchini. Cut thin strips (from blossom to stem) to resemble very wide fettucini. Add to boiling sauce.

4. Season fillets with salt and pepper. Lay on top of sauce and cover. Steam for 5-7 minutes depending on thickness of fish.

5. Place fillets in shallow bowl, dividing the sauce between the bowls. Garnish with fennel fronds. Makes four appetizer servings.

This can be done with any firm white fish (cod, bass, even marlin or swordfish). You can also serve this over a rice pilaf, cous cous or pasta as a main course.

Cooking with Wine

Recipes for Cooking with Wine

Also see:

The Global Gourmet's Coq au Vermouth
On Wine by Fred McMillin

About the author:

Joe LaVilla originally hails from Rochester, in Western New York State. While obtaining his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Rochester, he decided to pursue his culinary calling. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Joe has worked in Manhattan, Washington, D.C. and at Spago in Las Vegas before settling in Phoenix.

This page originally published as part of the electronic Gourmet Guide between 1994 and 1998.