Paulie's Zuppa di Pesce

PAULIE'S ZUPPA DE PESCE

This is an amazing recipe from our friend Paul Brusaschi. He is technically from Australia....but between his last name and the way he cooks, he definitely has to be part Italian as far as I am concerned. After eating this "fa boo" meal at his house, he texted me this recipe while waiting for a bus in NYC. He knows the recipe by heart?? Now that is a real chef!!


  
                                                          
Rather than the usual format, I am going to share it with you the way he texted it to me....

"Brown 2 onions, shallots, chopped celery & garlic in olive oil. Then add one large "tin" (that's "can" to us Americans) of crushed tomatoes, some dry sherry, and 3 cups of stock, fish stock if possible. Then add thyme, oregano, 1/2 tsp. saffron, salt and pepper to taste. Then add small red "spuds" (potatoes) cut into quarters, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add seafood (Paul used a white fish cut into small pieces, mussels, and shrimp). Then cook for 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley, and serve with a good, crusty white bread. Done!"

Well, before blogging about it,I had to go ahead and try making it myself. Here goes!

                        Ahh, the kitchen had already begun to smell AMAZING.

I knew I was on the right track. I did not have fish stock, so I used organic chicken stock. I found a medley of small gourmet potatoes at Costco. They were red, white and a beautiful purple. As far as the seafood goes, I used calamari rings, shrimp, scallops, and mussels. My shrimp were on the small side; next time I will use larger shrimp, like Paul did,  for more "wow" factor.

The parsley was an amazing finishing touch. So if you want to cook something fairly easy that tastes like it came from a restaurant, This is a perfect dish for guests! I made enough for 8 people with leftovers. It even tastes good the next day.Serve it with a loaf of crusty bread (for mopping up the juices!) and a nice bottle of white wine.

Also. keep an empty bowl on the table for the mussel shells, and the shrimp tails if you left them on. If you desire to enjoy the full seafood experience, then order some plastic lobster bibs on the Internet. Fabulous!!

 You will see what I made for dessert in my next post!

Ciao for now...