This is not a traditional version of this wonderful dish. The traditional Cioppino is a brothy mixture, that is eaten like a seafood soup. The version presented here had its roots in Friday night Italian men's club dinners at the Monte Cristo club in San Francisco, and the occasional chef their Giacomino Moscone. Mino was a great friend of my father and of the family. Serve this stew over al dente pasta and with a green salad, sourdoughbread and red wine with a bite.
Soak 1 1/2 oz dry porcini mushrooms in cold water for 20 minutes
In a hot skillet pour 3 tbls extra virgin olive oil, 1 sweet onion chopped and begin to caramelize. As onions just begin to brown, add one medium bell pepper, chopped, 2 celery stalks, chopped, 2 carrots chopped and a pinch of kosher salt. Cook over medium heat until every thing has softened. Then add 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped, 12 large basil leaves, chopped, 2 tbls fresh oregano chopped and 12 sprigs of fresh parsley (leaves only) chopped. Cook for one minute or so. Do not let garlic brown.
Add 1 large chopped portabella mushroom and 3/4 other mixed mushrooms, 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Add 3/4 of red wine, the porcini and its water (filtered to remove grit). Simmer and reduce by at least 1/3. Reason with black pepper and a little salt. Add 2 finely chopped small dried hot red peppers (each is about half the size of a dime) or 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes. Cook for one minute more. Add 5 coarsley chopped roma tomatoes and simmer until softened and 2 tbls tomato paste.
Add 32 oz of canned Italian tomatoes, which you have put through a food mill. Continue to simmer, while adding red wine or broth to keep the sauce loose.
Into the broth 2 clams per person and 2 mussels per person. While they cook, saute in extra virgin olive oil in a separate pan 1/2 lb, cubed firm white fish, like sea bass for about 2 minutes, then add 1/3 cup of sliced calamari for about 1 minute. Remove and put aside. Add a little salt to each indgredient as you cook. Add a little more oil to the pan and saute about to large prawns per person.
After about 5 minutes with the clams and mussels, add the other fish to the stew and put in one cooked and cleaned dungeness crab. Claw and body pieces, but not the shell. The green fat from the crab adds considerable flavor. You can saute the white fish with it if you want. When crab is heated through, about 1 minute, it is ready to serve
Squeeze in the juice of one lemon and finish with fresh chopped basil. Serve over al dente pasta.
