Zuppa di Pesce (Italian Seafood Soup)

Loaded with fresh seafood, tomatoes, and fennel, this flavorful soup is warm and cozy comfort food that won't weigh you down.

For the printable recipe click here.

​Zuppa di whata?

Those of you familiar with endless soup, salad, and breadsticks may recall that zuppa is Italian for soup. Zuppa di pesce translates to soup of fish.

Ironically, while this recipe is filled to the brim with frutti di mare (fruit of the sea), we opt for all shellfish in this version, with a trio of clams, scallops, and shrimp for our fresh seafood. Of course, if you wanted to include a little actual pesce fresco (fresh fish) in this fish soup, cod or any mild white fish would do.

A symphony of flavors

Layers of flavor are built step by step in this rustic seafood stew, and just like in a symphony, there is a perfect time and rhythm for adding each piece.

Thus, this recipe is somehow simultaneously simple and complex. Like with anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. But to start, you'll just want to get a good sense for some of the steps.

Making the Zuppa di Pesce

Step 1: Cook the clams in shrimp stock. If you don't have a freezer full of shrimp stock and can't get your hands on any, keep calm and consider these options:

• When buying shrimp for this recipe, buy them with the shells on and peel and devein them at home. You can also buy easy-peel shrimp that are already butterflied and deveined for your convenience. Either way, you can peel the shrimp and use the shells to make a quick stock. Just cover and chill the peeled shrimp to use later. To make the stock, add the shrimp shells to 3 quarts water. If desired, add some chopped carrot, onion, celery, and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for at least 30 minutes, or preferably about 2 hours. Strain the stock into a fresh bowl, and measure out two quarts for cooking the clams. The remainder can be frozen in ice cube trays and stored in zip-top freezer bags to be used for future recipes.

• Alternatively, you could use any seafood stock, chicken broth, extra tomato juice, or even water. If you opt for chicken stock, tomato juice, or water, you could try adding a little clam juice to the mix. Clam juice is sold bottled in most grocery stores and would be an easy way to add a little boost of seafood flavor. However, I have not experimented with it personally in this recipe, so you'd have to let me know how it turns out!

Some notes on the clams:

• Buy fresh, live clams and keep them on ice till ready to use.

• Before cooking, soak the clams in cold, very heavily salted water for 20 minutes so that they will purge their dirt and grit.

• Strain the clams from their soaking water and cover with the shrimp stock. Bring just to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. The clams are done when most of them have opened--this should take about about 3-4 minutes, but stay close to avoid overcooking.

• Remove the clams from the water with a slotted spoon to stop the cooking, and set aside for now, but KEEP the cooking liquid in the pot. Any unopened clams should be discarded.

Step 2: Sear the scallops.

• Use a 3-quart saucier or very large skillet like a cast-iron or a large, heavy-bottomed, metal pot or pan.

• Preheat the pan over med-high/high heat for 2-5 minutes. If using an enamel-coated pan, do not exceed medium heat for the protection of your cookware.

• Pat the scallops very dry with paper towels before searing to get the best sear. Season the tops of the scallops with salt and pepper.

• Add 1 T olive oil to the pan. When the oil has spread out across the large sauté pan and gotten all glisteny, add the scallops, seasoned side down. Depending on the size of the pan, you may need to do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan.

• Sear the scallops about 2 minutes on each side, seasoning the tops with salt and pepper before flipping.

• Transfer the scallops to a clean plate and set aside for now.

If you wanted to add some white fish to the mix, you could give that a quick sear at this point and then reserve it with the seared scallops.

Step 3: Sauté the veggies/aromatics

• Turn the heat down to medium, another tablespoon of olive oil to the now-empty pan, and sauté 3 mirepoix pucks (or 1/3 cup each finely chopped carrot, celery, and onion), about 8-10 minutes.

• When the mirepoix is all softened and the onions are translucent, add the fennel, and cook till soft and beginning to turn golden in spots, about 5 minutes.

• Add the garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally till the veggies are very fragrant and soft, but be careful not to burn, at least two minutes.

• Add the tomato paste and seasonings and cook another minute, stirring the whole time.

Step 4: Add the liquid

• Add the canned tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

• Add the reserved cooking liquid from the clams, but hold back and discard the last little bit if any sand or grit was left behind by the clams.

​Step 5: Add the shrimp

• Bring the soup to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add the peeled shrimp.

• Cook only until they turn pink, then shut off the heat.

​Step 6: Dish it up!

• Ladle the fish stew into serving bowls, making sure each gets some shrimp, but saving some room in the bowls.

• Distribute the clams and scallops to the serving bowls

• Sprinkle on plenty of chopped fresh herbs like fresh parsley, fresh basil, and fennel fronds.

• Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing a little lemon juice on tableside, if desired.

So there you have it!

There are approximately 6 major steps . . . with a bunch of little associated steps and notes and tidbits.

Now, because this is a paleo blog, and we are aiming for a paleo recipe here, we did not use any vino bianco (white wine), which would most likely be in the version you'd get at Italian restaurants. We think our version is pretty darn good without it, but if you'd like to throw in a splash of white wine, you could add a little at the beginning of step 4 to deglaze the pan before adding the tomatoes. I'd go with something dry like a pinot grigio. To boost the anise-like flavor in the fennel and basil, you could also consider adding just a TINY splash of sambuca (Italian anise liqueur), but I would keep it to just an itty bitty amount so it is not overpowering. Also, be very careful anytime you are adding alcohol to something over an open flame.

Another thing we don't necessarily suggest in this recipe is to serve this soup over pasta or alongside crusty slices of bread, but if you are not paleo/gluten free (or if you have paleo/gluten free versions of these items that you want to bring to the mix) that is certainly an option!

Zuppa di pesce would certainly be a perfect addition to a Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes menu, but with its simultaneous comforting warmth and refreshing lightness, this rustic fish stew would truly be great anytime of the year!

Here's what you'll need:

• 20 clams

• 2 quarts shrimp stock

• 2 T olive oil, divided

• 8 sea scallops, little abductor muscles removed

• 3 mirepoix pestata pucks

• 4 medium-sized cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cups shaved fennel bulb

• 2 T tomato paste

• 2 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• several cranks black pepper

• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

• 16-20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

• fresh basil, parsley, fennel fronds, and lemon wedges for serving, if desired

Here's what you'll do:

1. ​Before cooking, soak the clams in cold, very heavily salted water for 20 minutes so that they will purge their dirt and grit.

2. Strain the clams from their soaking water and bring just to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. The clams are done when most of them have opened--this should take about 3-4 minutes, but stay close to avoid overcooking.

3. Remove the clams from the water with a slotted spoon to stop the cooking, and set aside for now, but KEEP the cooking liquid in the pot. Any unopened clams should be discarded.

4. Preheat a 3-qt (or larger), heavy-bottomed pan over med-high/high heat for 2-5 minutes, pat the scallops very dry with paper towels, and season the tops of the scallops with salt and pepper.

5. Add 1 T olive oil to the hot pan. When the oil has spread out across the large sauté pan and gotten all glisteny, add the scallops, seasoned side down. Depending on the size of the pan, you may need to do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan.

6. Sear the scallops about 2 minutes on each side, seasoning the tops with salt and pepper before flipping.

7. Transfer the scallops to a clean plate and set aside for now.

8. Turn the heat down to medium, another tablespoon of olive oil to the now-empty pan, and sauté 3 mirepoix pucks (or 1/3 cup each finely chopped carrot, celery, and onion), about 8-10 minutes.

9. When the mirepoix is all softened and the onions are translucent, add the fennel, and cook till soft and beginning to turn golden in spots, about 5 minutes.

10. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally till the veggies are very fragrant and soft, but be careful not to burn, at least two minutes.

11. Add the tomato paste and seasonings (salt, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and black pepper) and cook another minute, stirring the whole time.

12. Add the canned tomatoes, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

13. Add the reserved liquid from cooking the clams, but hold back and discard the last little bit if any sand or grit was left behind by the clams.

14. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add the peeled shrimp. Cook only until they turn pink, then shut off the heat.

15. Ladle the fish stew into serving bowls, making sure each gets some shrimp, but saving some room in the bowls.

16. Distribute the clams and scallops to the serving bowls and sprinkle on plenty of chopped fresh herbs like fresh parsley, fresh basil, and fennel fronds. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing a little lemon juice on tableside, if desired.

For the printable recipe click here.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy . . .

• Zuppa Toscana

• Paleo Fried Calamari

• Lump Crab, Orange, and Fennel Salad

• Paleo Crab Cakes

• Christmas Salmon

• Buffalo Chicken Chowder

• Moroccan Lamb Stew