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RECIPE: Cioppino with Quinoa
Chicken. Shrimp. Eggplant. Potatoes of the Russian Banana fingerling variety. This is the motley crew I had to work with for dinner the other night. The solution? Cioppino.
RECIPE: Cioppino with Quinoa
Chicken, shrimp, eggplant, potatoes of the Russian banana fingerling variety. This is the motley crew I had to work with for dinner the other night. The solution? Cioppino, the San Fran invention whose whole reason for being is using up random ingredients (seafood traditionally) by "chip"-ing them into a big ol’ pot. Think of cioppino as the brash American cousin of bouillabaisse. Find out how to make my version after the jump.
Cioppino with Quinoa
Go Get This:
2 cups cooked quinoa*
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1.5 cups cups shrimp stock**
32-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 lb. fingerling potatoes
1 large eggplant, cubed and salted***
1 shallot, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 tsp. coriander
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (plus more to garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley or basil, to garnish
Lemon zest, to garnish
Now Do This:
In a deep pot, heat one teaspoon of olive oil and sauté shallot, onion and bell pepper until lightly caramelized. Season with salt and pepper. Add crushed red pepper, cinnamon, fennel seed, coriander and one teaspoon smoked paprika. Sauté an additional minute.
In a bowl, season cubed chicken with second teaspoon of smoked paprika, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Add second teaspoon of olive oil to the pot and add the chicken. Sear the chicken a minute or so on either side, browning it to develop color and texture, and remove.
Drain the liquid off the salted eggplant, pat dry and add to the pot, along with the fingerling potatoes. Sauté 5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove the eggplant (so it won't get mushy) but leave the potatoes. Deglaze the pan with red wine vinegar, allowing the acid to cook off, about 1 minute.
To the pot, add crushed tomatoes, shrimp stock and bay leaves. Return the chicken to the pot. Bring the mix to a boil, cover and reduce to a high simmer. In 30-45 minutes, the flavors will coalesce, the potatoes will be tender and the chicken will be cooked through.
Five minutes before the cioppino is finished, add the shrimp and eggplant to the pot.
Taste the cioppino and adjust salt, pepper and red pepper. Serve over quinoa and garnish with good olive oil, chopped basil or parsley and lemon zest.
* One cup of uncooked quinoa will produce two cups of cooked quinoa. Soak uncooked quinoa in cold water for 5 minutes, strain and add to a pot with 1.5 cups cold water and pinch salt. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Turn off heat, let stand 5 more minutes, uncover and fluff with a fork. Keeping thematic with the cioppino, I added fennel seeds to the quinoa while it cooked and finished it with lemon zest and grated Pecorino.
** My shrimp came shell-on, so I used the shells to make a quick batch of stock. Just bring to a boil with 2 cups water and aromatics (lemon slices, bay leaves, peppercorns, etc.), then turn down to a simmer until fragrant, tan and reduced by about half. Strain and use. No shells? Use store-bought shrimp, fish, vegetable or chicken stock.
*** Salting the eggplant ahead of time draws out the moisture and bitterness.
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