If you're thinking of a Tuscan holiday by the sea but can't seem to quite make up your mind, there is one thing that is sure to sway most people – their stomach! A holiday in Italy has to consider food and any visitors will want to try the local cuisine. Viareggio is not only a famous seaside resort town, bustling with things to do and home to a renowned annual carnival, it is also the birthplace of a seafood soup that needs to be tasted. Eaten in Viareggio, you'll be getting the freshest, best ingredients. Find a villa near a town in the Viareggio area and try it out for yourself.
Or, if you can't wait until then, try out this recipe for the famous Cacciucco alla Viareggina while you pack for the trip of a lifetime!
Ingredients
Serves 6 people
For the stock:
- 1 celery
- 1 carrot
- 1 bay leaf
- Several fish heads
For the stew:
- A head of garlic, chopped
- Chilli pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 500 g octopus
- 500 g cuttlefish
- 1,200 g of trash fish
- White wine
- 2 tbspn tomato paste
- At least 4 mussels per person
- 1 mantis shrimp per person
Method
1. Begin with the unpleasant, but necessary step, of cleaning all the different kinds of fish you're going to be using.
2. In a large pot, boil the celery, the carrot, the bay leaves and the fish heads all together to make a salty broth.
3. Now you're going to need to sauté the garlic and the chilli in a large pan with extra virgin olive oil. After that you can add the octopus and squid to the pan.
4. Sprinkle white wine over the contents of the pan and after few minutes you can also add the tomato paste and a single ladle of the broth you already prepared. Leave this to cook for half an hour.
5. At this stage, it's time to add the fish, cut into medium-sized chunks, and the mantis shrimp to the pan. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Once cooked, add more broth as you see fit, to the create the consistency you prefer.
6. Cook the mussels by steaming them over medium heat until the shells open. Once they have opened, you can sauté them with some chopped garlic and extra virgin olive oil,
The soup is then best served with some garlic bread and a glass of Chianti. Between all the fish and garlic, you're not going to smell the freshest, but it's more than worth it. Once you're hooked on this traditional soup, make sure to try the real thing on your next trip to the Tuscan coast!
Ingredients
Serves 6 people
For the stock:
- 1 celery
- 1 carrot
- 1 bay leaf
- Several fish heads
For the stew:
- A head of garlic, chopped
- Chilli pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 500 g octopus
- 500 g cuttlefish
- 1,200 g of trash fish
- White wine
- 2 tbspn tomato paste
- At least 4 mussels per person
- 1 mantis shrimp per person
Method
1. Begin with the unpleasant, but necessary step, of cleaning all the different kinds of fish you're going to be using.
2. In a large pot, boil the celery, the carrot, the bay leaves and the fish heads all together to make a salty broth.
3. Now you're going to need to sauté the garlic and the chilli in a large pan with extra virgin olive oil. After that you can add the octopus and squid to the pan.
4. Sprinkle white wine over the contents of the pan and after few minutes you can also add the tomato paste and a single ladle of the broth you already prepared. Leave this to cook for half an hour.
5. At this stage, it's time to add the fish, cut into medium-sized chunks, and the mantis shrimp to the pan. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Once cooked, add more broth as you see fit, to the create the consistency you prefer.
6. Cook the mussels by steaming them over medium heat until the shells open. Once they have opened, you can sauté them with some chopped garlic and extra virgin olive oil,
The soup is then best served with some garlic bread and a glass of Chianti. Between all the fish and garlic, you're not going to smell the freshest, but it's more than worth it. Once you're hooked on this traditional soup, make sure to try the real thing on your next trip to the Tuscan coast!
