As an alternative mixed fish ciuppin, you might use a gallinella di mare, which is a tub fish or tub gurnard -- a larger, tasty relative of the piper. In this case the fish shouldn't be pureed, but rather served chopped in its broth. The preparation time is about an hour.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- A gallinella, weighing 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
- An onion, minced
- Half a stick celery, minced
- A small bunch parsley, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil
- 4 ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and crushed
- 1 anchovy, boned
- 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup dry white wine (unoaked, along the lines of a Vermentino or a Cinque Terre)
- A lemon, sliced
- Salt and whole peppercorns
- 6 slices toasted bread
Preparation:
Place the fish in a pot large enough for it to lie flat, fill with cold water to cover, salt the water, and season it with 3 peppercorns, the bay leaf, and the sliced lemon. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the fish for a half hour. Remove the fish, reserving the broth, let the fish cool, and pick the flesh from the bones. Keep the flesh, while discarding the bones, skin and whatnot. Strain the broth.
Heat the oil in a preferably earthenware pot, sauté the minced herbs until the onion is lightly browned, and add the crushed tomatoes. Stir the mixture, season it to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer it for about 20 minutes. Stir in the white wine and the flesh of the fish, and continue simmering. Add some of the fish broth too, figuring about a ladle's worth per diner, check seasoning, and simmer for 15 minutes more.
While the ciuppin is simmering toast the bread and use it to line the bottoms of the soup bowls. Ladle the soup over the bread and serve, with either a Vermentino, or a Pigato -- Lambruschi or Il Monticello both make fine Vermentino, while Riccardo Bruna and Durin make excellent Pigato. Another possibility would be a zesty red, for example a Rossese di Dolceacqua. Tenuta Giuncheo's is quite nice.
Variation: you can add the 10-15 pitted sweet black olives, mincing them first, to the herb mixture.
In closing, the practice of making a rich fish stew and serving it over toasted bread is quite common. Liguria is also known for buridda, in which the fish and vegetables are layered in a casserole and then slowly cooked over the stove. The Tuscan port of Livorno, a hundred miles south, is instead known for cacciucco, a fish stew that's graced by a healthy jolt of red pepper.
A wine? White, and I'd go with a Vermentino from the Lunigiana area.
Heat the oil in a preferably earthenware pot, sauté the minced herbs until the onion is lightly browned, and add the crushed tomatoes. Stir the mixture, season it to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer it for about 20 minutes. Stir in the white wine and the flesh of the fish, and continue simmering. Add some of the fish broth too, figuring about a ladle's worth per diner, check seasoning, and simmer for 15 minutes more.
While the ciuppin is simmering toast the bread and use it to line the bottoms of the soup bowls. Ladle the soup over the bread and serve, with either a Vermentino, or a Pigato -- Lambruschi or Il Monticello both make fine Vermentino, while Riccardo Bruna and Durin make excellent Pigato. Another possibility would be a zesty red, for example a Rossese di Dolceacqua. Tenuta Giuncheo's is quite nice.
Variation: you can add the 10-15 pitted sweet black olives, mincing them first, to the herb mixture.
In closing, the practice of making a rich fish stew and serving it over toasted bread is quite common. Liguria is also known for buridda, in which the fish and vegetables are layered in a casserole and then slowly cooked over the stove. The Tuscan port of Livorno, a hundred miles south, is instead known for cacciucco, a fish stew that's graced by a healthy jolt of red pepper.
A wine? White, and I'd go with a Vermentino from the Lunigiana area.
