Cioppino
(Served over angel hair bird’s nest pasta)

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½ white onion, finely chopped
• 3 to 4 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• ½ cup sweet yellow pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• ½ cup sweet orange pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• ½ cup chopped fresh tomato
• pinch saffron
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper, or more to taste
• 1½ to 2 qt chicken broth
• 8 ozs halibut or other firm white fish, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 lb shrimp (16 to 20 count), shelled and deveined
• 8 ozs small to medium sea scallops
• 1 lb mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
• 1 16 oz package dried angel hair pasta nests

Instructions

Melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or a large soup pot. Add the chopped onion, shallot, garlic, peppers and tomato and sauté until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add the saffron and crushed red pepper and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Add the halibut, followed by the shrimp and scallops. Add the mussels and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the mussels open and the fish and shellfish is cooked through.

While the cioppino is cooking, cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions. Drain well.

Nest servings of angel hair pasta in pasta bowls or shallow soup bowls. Ladle the cioppino over the pasta. Serves 6 to 8.

Added Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009