My first taste of cioppino was at an old restaurant in San Francisco which was known for the dish. Cioppino is an Italian-American seafood stew, but this particular recipe from the cookbook Weeknights With Giada gives it a twist by adding Italian sausage. Fresh seafood isn’t readily available where I live so I happen to like this recipe. Everyone in my family loved the shrimp and sausage cioppino except for my daughter, which is not surprising. I shared the leftovers with a friend and he loved it as well. It’s easy to make and tastes great with a loaf of crusty bread to dip into the broth.
My husband’s Aunts gave us the cookbook Weeknights With Giada for Christmas. It has a lot of interesting recipes I’d like to try that are a little out of the box for me. I’ll be sure to share the ones I love in future posts, and I encourage you to cook something out of your comfort zone in the near future. Perhaps it’s this cioppino. This was the first time I’ve ever made cioppino and if I can do it, you can do it!
| Shrimp and Sausage Cioppino | Print |
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped into ½ in pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled ( I used minced garlic)
- 2 large or 4 small shallots, chopped
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 lb. spicy or sweet Italian ground turkey sausage (I used regular Italian sweet sausage)
- 2 cups dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 lb. peeled and deveined large shrimp
- 1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped ( I used several of the Dorat frozen basil cubes)
- 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves, I used dried
- Crusty bread
- In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the fennel, garlic, shallots, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper.
- Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are slightly softened, about 4 minutes.
- Add the sausage and break into ½ inch pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook until brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits at bottom of pan.
- Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, and bay leaf.
- Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
- Uncover the pan and add the shrimp, beans, basil and thyme.
- Simmer, uncovered, until the shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 4 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and discard, Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Ladle soup into bowls and serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!
In case you missed it, I shared my story of seeing Giada in person and shared some tips from her book Giada’s Feel Good Food in this post.
Linking to: Tidy Mom Link Party
Bart loves cioppino, I am going to have to give this a try!
I think he will and it’s easy to make, no mussels, clams, etc., but the broth is delicious!
OH! Anything with Fennel and I’m in love! I’m making this tomorrow night!
I always use Scimeca’s chicken italian sausage when a recipe calls for italian sausage. (I find that Turkey isn’t as moist). However, it is hard to find, so I buy every package when I see it and put it in the freezer. Now I will have something serve with this crusty italian loaf of bread I couldn’t resist! Thanks Dawn! (and Giada)
Let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
This looks yummy, but I see words like fennel bulb and Dutch oven and I’m running scared! I’ll wait until I have a little more courage to try this one. I looks and sounds delicious!
If you can make cake pops, you can make this dish! Dutch oven (just use a pot). Fennel is found in the produce section. You just chop the bulb like an onion. I had never bought it before or cooked with it before this recipe. I didn’t even know what fennel looked like 🙂 I was a little intimidated at first too, but it’s easy to make.
Looks yummy – especially on a blustery day like today. I have never cooked with fennel…is that the one that smells like licorice? I think I’ll give this one a try – thanks!
Fennel does have that licorice smell. It’s actually in a lot of sausage. I had never cooked with fresh fennel before this dish. It’s very easy, you just chop the bulb like you would an onion. It’s sold in the produce section.
Looks good! Shame we don’t live closer and get to share new dishes. I am sure I would have loved this <3
You’ll have to make it sometime Ulyth. It’s really pretty easy, don’t let the ingredients scare you.
Dawn, I love Giada’s cooking show- she makes everything look so easy and delicious! It must have been fun to have seen her in person. I have never made cioppino, but it does sound wonderful. I bet it smells so good while it’s cooking. Thank you for sharing this at Treasure Box Tuesday!
This dish was pretty easy to make. It was fun to see Giada in person, I was just bummed no pictures were allowed 🙁
I’ll give it a try then Dawn! I love making soup and I’ve already added your tortellini soup to my arsenal. Here’s one more!
Sounds like a receipe I should try. I pinned it! Thanks for info on fennel I’ve never used it before.