It’s not often we buy seafood in Colorado but when we do we do it big. On New Year’s Day we celebrated being home with my mom (who recently had a stroke) with a huge family feast of a traditional Roasted Seafood Choppino. I’d never made it before and found it incredibly fast and easy and was surprised how the flavors of the soup changed from beginning to end of the roasting with the crab and clam shells. Served with Lemon Parsley Linguine it was enjoyed by everyone from 1-74 years old.
Roasted Seafood Choppino
10 servings
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion
6-8 large garlic cloves chopped or pressed
1 ½ dry white wine (or whatever you happen to have in a box!)
4 15oz cans chopped tomatoes in juice
2 cups water
4 cups bottled clam juice
4 bay leaves
½ cup chopped Italian parsley, chopped
½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 lbs Alaska Crab legs, cut into 2-3 inch sections
1-1 ½ lb shelled and de-veined shrimp
1-1 ½ lb clams in the shell
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large ovenproof skillet or roasting pan (like what you might cook a turkey in) heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, increase the heat and boil for 2 minutes. Add the clam juice, tomatoes with their juice, water, bay leaves, parsley and crushed peppers and bring to a boil. Season with coarse salt and pepper to taste (will taste a bit bland until roasting is over).
Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the crab, shrimp and clams and nestle them into the sauce. Transfer to the oven and roast 15-20 minutes until the clams are open, the shrimp is pink, and the crab is cooked through. Serve in a large bowl on a plate with crusty bread, Lemon-Parsley Linguine, and a nice Sauvignon Blanc.
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