Most of the ingredients you can see in the pictures and I usually will grab whatever seafood looks or sounds the best to throw in. We have Chula seafood here in Scottsdale and their fish kicks all sorts of ass. I bought a piece of halibut, some scallops and shrimp from chula not knowing what I was going to do with it. Once I decided on cioppino, I bought some little necks and some jumbo lump crab meat from the store when I went to pick up the other ingredients.
Chop 2 shallots and dice 4 cloves of garlic. Olive oil and medium heat and throw the shallots on for 4 or 5 minutes, add garlic for 1-2 additional minutes.
Add 1 and 1/4 cups of white wine and turn the heat up and let reduce by halfish.
Add 1 large can crushed tomatoes, 1 cup of water, and 1.5-2 jars of clam juice. I used 1.5 for this one. Throw in 2 bay leaves, big pinch of salt, big pinch of crushed red pepper and a small pinch of dried oregano, some cracked black pepper and a little sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce all the way down to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.
For the seafood I prepare the fish and the scallops separately from the rest of the stew. I cut the halibut into smaller pieces, tossed in olive oil and baked for 8 minutes at 400. I pan seared the scallops in butter/olive oil. When done I put both into the bowls that were getting served. The hot broth will bring back to temp if they cool too much.
After the stew simmers for the 30 minutes, I give it a good stir and drop in some fresh chopped thyme and 3-4 generous pats of butter. Stir until butter is melted and incorporated into the stew. Drop in the little necks and lid back on to simmer for 5-6 minutes. Once they start to open I dropped the peeled shrimp in and the lump crab meat. Lid on for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and remove the bay leaves if you didn’t earlier. I ladle all the goodness into the bowls that already have the scallops and halibut in it. Garnish with chopped Italian parsley. Serve with bread and I like to squeeze a lemon wedge over before I eat.
Obviously you can adjust to your tastes, and I tend to use more clam juice when I don’t have as much seafood, so I went lighter on the juice here. Let me know how it turns out.