Cioppino - Mama Rathmell-Hane's

½ cup olive oil (1/6 cup)

1 large bell pepper chopped (½)

3 large onions (1½ )

1-3 Tablespoons chopped garlic (1 Tbls)

1½ cup red wine (3/4 cup)

½ cup chopped parsley (1/4 cup)

1½ tsps each basil and oregano (3/4 tsp)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (1/8 tsp)

1 Tablespoon salt (½ Tbls)

6-ounce can of tomato sauce (3-ounce)

3 cups canned plum tomatoes (1 ½)

5 lbs. crab in shell broken up

1 lb. Large shrimp, preferably raw (½ lb.)

2-3 dz clams or mussels in shell (1 dz)

3 lbs. Fillets of firm-fleshed white fish

(sea bass, halibut, cod or part squid)

Use whatever seafood is freshest when you make Cioppino

*          Heat the oil in a very large pot, add the onion, and cook until almost tender. Add bell pepper, garlic, wine and seasonings, boil for five minutes.

*          Add tomatoes and tomato sauce, simmer 45 minutes. (Can be prepared ahead to this point.)

*          Add another ½ cup of wine and ½ cup of water.

*          Cut the fish into two-inch pieces and the squid into bite-size pieces. Add all the seafood, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. If you can obtain only shelled crab meat, add it the last two minutes of cooking.

*          Serve in deep soup plates with sourdough to 10 hungry diners.