Italian Seafood Stew

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb ripe roma tomato
• 2 small fennel bulbs (1 1/2 pounds total weight)
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for your bread.
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup dry wine
• 2 cups bottled clam juice
• 4 cups water
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 14 mussels, in the shell well scrubbed
• 2 lbs fresh assorted fish fillets, such as sea bass,hilibut,red snapper and sole,cut into 2 inch pieces.
• 1/2 lb small shrimp, peeled and deveined (leave tail fin on)
• 4 slices crusty italian bread
• coarsely chopped flat-leaf italian parsley (to garnish)

Recipe

• 1 cut tomatoes in half, squeeze out the seeds.
• 2 chop coarsely.
• 3 if you can stand it, remove skin too, but i have no patience for that.
• 4 trim the root end of each fennel bulb and remove stalks.
• 5 cut the bulbs in half lengthwise and then cut each half lengthwise into 4 wedges; set aside.
• 6 in large saucepan/pot over medium-low heat warm the olive oil.
• 7 add garlic and saute until it just begins to change color, 1-2 minutes.
• 8 add tomatoes, fennel and bay leaves and cook uncovered for 10 minutes.
• 9 stir in lemon juice, wine, water, salt and red pepper.
• 10 cover partially and cook till fennel is almost tender, about 20 minutes.
• 11 discard any mussles that do not close to the touch.
• 12 add fish cover, and barely simmer on low for 10 min.
• 13 add mussles and shrimp and continue to barely simmer for 45 min or until all mussles are open and shrimp is pink.
• 14 discard and mussles that did not open.
• 15 taste, adjust seasoning.
• 16 preheat oven to 350 brush each bread slice w/ olive oil, arrange on baking sheet oiled side up, warm in oven a few minutes.
• 17 to serve, place 1 bread slice in a soup bowl (4 inch) and ladle the stew over the bread.
• 18 garnish w/ parsley serve right away.