Susan's Cioppino

Menu: Cioppino; Garlic Bread; Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

Lessons learned:

1. It's awesome when someone else cooks.
2. I mean, it's really, really awesome when someone else cooks!

Cioppino ("chip-EE-no") is my husband's favorite home-cooked dish.  His mom made it for dinner right before she went into labor with him, and it's still one of her signature dishes 30 years later.  He's been putting in a lot of time at work, so she decided he deserved to have some when he got home tonight.  Woohoo!  It was delicious, especially because I didn't cook it!  And it requires wine, so since the wine was already open, my father-in-law and I finished off one of his favorites, a Monte Antico Sangiovese blend.

Sophie ate only garlic bread.  Ben, however, couldn't get enough of the fish from the soup!  He probably ate 2/3 of what was in my first bowl, then had seconds.

My mother-in-law says I can share her recipe, so here it is!

Susan's Cioppino

1/2 large green bell pepper
2 tablespoons onion, chopped
1-2 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes, with juice
8 ounces canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 pound white fish, chopped
1/2 pound sea scallops, chopped
1/2 pound uncooked, peeled, deveined shrimp
6.5 ounces minced clams, with juice

Saute the green pepper, onion, and garlic with oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the tomatoes, sauce, wine, and seasonings.  Bring the soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about 20 minutes.  Add the fish, scallops, shrimp, and clams.  Return the soup to a boil briefly, then take it off the heat and serve with crusty garlic bread.

Makes about 4 main course servings.