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Soup for the Seafood Lover's Soul


In the weeks leading up to Easter, many people make sacrifices to show their devotion to their religion. Certain Christian religions, for example, require you abstain from eating meat on Fridays throughout the Lenten season.

But sacrificing meat doesn't mean you have to sacrifice taste, as the following recipe for "Cioppino" from Leslie Jonath and Frankie Frankeny's "Soup's On!" (Chronicle Books) can attest.

Cioppino

Serves 4

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 white onion

1/2 cup thinly sliced leeks, white part only

4 garlic cloves, crushed

6 anchovy fillets or 2 tablespoons anchovy paste

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 sprigs fresh marjoram

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 live Dungeness crab (2 to 21/2 pounds), cleaned and sectioned, crab fat reserved

8 ounces lingcod, or other white fish

1 cup dry white wine

11/2 cups tomato puree or peeled, fresh whole tomatoes

8 ounces clams, well scrubbed

4 ounces mussels, scrubbed and debearded

8 ounces raw prawns or large shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 ounces calamari, cleaned and cut into rings and tentacles

Kosher or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Warm the oil in a heavy, nonreactive pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leeks and garlic and saute until the garlic is golden. Add the anchovies, parsley, marjoram, and pepper flakes and stir to mix. Add the crab and fish and cook until the fish begins to fall apart, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the wine and cook to reduce the liquid by one-third.

Mix together the reserved crab fat, 1 cup water, and the tomato puree in a small bowl. Add to the pot, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Add the clams, mussels and prawns and cook until the clam and mussel shells begin to open and the prawns turn pink, approximately 3 minutes. Discard any clams or mussels that do not open. Add the calamari and cook until opaque, approximately 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into soup bowls and drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.