| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 3 hr 50 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Cook: | 2 hr |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cups diced yellow onions
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced fennel
- 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup minced garlic
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups red wine
- 6 cups tomato sauce (recommended: San Marzano)
- 1/2 cup clam juice
- 1/4 cup lemon, juice
- 4 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons red chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1-ounce Sambuca liqueur
- 4 pounds Dungeness crab, whole, cooked, cleaned, cracked and broken into 4 pieces
- 2 pounds littleneck clams, cleaned and scrubbed
- 2 pounds firm white fish, like cod or halibut, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 pounds shrimp, shell on, deveined
- 1 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley leaves
- Fresh bread, for serving
Instructions
- In a large stock pot over medium heat, add oil and saute onions, fennel, pepper and garlic until lightly browned. Add tomato paste and continue to cook until it browns. Add wine, tomato sauce, clam and lemon juices, water, bay leaves, red chili flakes, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and liqueur to the sauteed vegetables and simmer for 1 hour. Add crab to the sauce and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add clams and let simmer for 5 minutes, then add in cod and cook 4 to 5 minutes. DO NOT STIR. To finish add, shrimp.
- Let cook 3 to 4 minutes until shrimp turn pink. Stir in parsley and serve immediately with fresh bread.
Reviews
This by far is one of the best tasting dishes I have ever made! I live in a small town and the two grocery stores here didn’t have fennel or dungeness crab!!! But I did find the Sambuca liquore! (I know, ridiculous) I had to use fennel seed and whole frozen blue crab. But it was outstanding, my family and friends loved it. Will be making this again soon! Loved the sauce, so flavorful and a different seafood combination in every spoonful. Guy you are the Best!!
LOVE this recipe! So much flavor and its so meaty. I hate soups and stews that don’t have a lot of ‘stuff’ but this does. I also added scallops, mussels and instead of dungeness crabs, i used king crab. (less shells in the cioppino). Will definitely make this again.
Got this from my Guy Fieri Food Cookbook and it was fabulous the first time and better the second time. I did not use Sambuca either time since I don’t keep that around but the fennel adds that licorice flavor so I sure didn’t miss anything! This is fabulous. We use Crab legs when we can’t find the crabs for it. Still wonderful, everyone in the house from 2 yrs old on up love this one. If you like it spicy try a Guy recipe!
The recipe was great!!! Easy to follow. We were looking for something a little spicy and this recipe hit it out of the park!!!!! Great Hit in our family!!!!!
Super Awesome Recipe… My sister did an Awesome job cooking it!!!! She’s a big fan!!!!!
Super Awesome Recipe… My sister did an Awesome job cooking it!!!! She’s a big fan!!!!!
Wonderful recipe! It is spicy, so tread lightly with the red pepper flakes if you are sensitive to heat. A keeper recipe, and very impressive!
I dropped the chili flakes to half and it was still a bit spicy. Adjust to your own taste as needed! Make sure you have lots of hearty bread to soak up the soup!
We serve cioppino for the holidays every year. Tried this because we love Guy. The overall dish was excellent, but for the majority of our guests the red pepper flakes was just way to much. Next time will cut it down substantially. Clams did not open, recommend putting them in much sooner, maybe with the crab.
I have used this recipe as it is written and experimented with some different tastes. All have turned out great and are worth making and experimenting again.
This is an INCREDIBLE recipe! I made it for friends weeks ago & they are still raving! I omitted the Sambuca and cut the fennel in half because I don’t like the taste of licorice. The only complaint was the licorice aftertaste left by the fennel so I have eliminated that too. Otherwise, well worth the effort and wait!
I’ve made this recipe twice already and am making it for my guys 40th birthday on Friday. I used to have a hard time finding a recipe that included a lot of crab and this is on the mark. I think this time I’m gonna substitute the clams with mussels. OH, I also served this over cooked pasta the last time and it was fantastic. The noodles just drink up that wonderful broth…..plus it keeps you from eating a pound of french bread. 🙂 Thanks Guy!