Giada de Laurentiis’ prescription for a cold, depressing day: hot seafood soup. Make it just a little bit spicier to clear your colds.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
5 cups fish stock
1 bay leaf
1 lb manila clams, scrubbed
1 lb mussels, scrubbed, debearded
1 lb uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 lbs halibut fillets or salmon fillets, cut into 2-inch chunks (assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets)

What’s Next

1. Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and sauté 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomato paste.
5. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. 6. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.
7. Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes.
8. Add the shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open).
9. Remove bay leaf. Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Originally posted on February 1, 2008 @ 10:11 pm