Cacciucco
The name Cacciucco derives from the Turkish word "kuciuck", which means tiny, small; in fact, this poor fish soup is a mixture of different ingredients, all reduced to small pieces. There are several variations, the most famous being those of Livorno and Viareggio. The cacciucco of Livorno has a stronger taste, the one of Viareggio is lighter, it is made with sand-fish, no frying is used and the fish are all boned. Below is the Viareggio version.
Ingredients
- 2 kg of cleaned fish and shellfish;
- 600 g peeled tomatoes;
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 hot chili pepper;
- 1 glass of white wine;
- 2 l fish stock;
- extra-virgin olive oil;
- salt and pepper
How to make
Get a variety of fish of your choice, fresh molluscs (octopus, cuttlefish, baby octopus, scorpion fish, gurnard, monkfish, etc.) and clean them carefully to obtain 2 kg of product net of waste.
Cut the shellfish into small pieces and brown them in a large saucepan with chopped garlic, chili pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Deglaze with white wine and add the peeled tomatoes cut into cubes.
Add the tomato paste diluted with a little water and continue to cook the soup, adding a few ladles of the broth prepared with the fish scraps.
Leave the soup to cook for about an hour, then add the fish cut into medium pieces and continue cooking for another 20 minutes. Cacciucco is best served hot.
