Brodetto alla Vastese (Adriatic Fish Stew)

La storia di questo piatto

Brodetto alla Vastese is the Adriatic carried inland on a terracotta dish, a mixed catch of scorpionfish, monkfish, sea bass, sea bream and red mullet gathered with octopus and clams. It belongs to Vasto and the Abruzzo coast, a sea-table where the bounty of the day decides the pot.

Ingredienti

• 1200 g Mixed Adriatic fish (scorpionfish, monkfish, sea bass, gilt-head bream, red mullet)
• 800 g San Marzano canned tomatoes
• 300 g Fresh octopus
• 500 g Manila clams or littleneck clams
• 4 cloves Garlic (3 cloves for the sauce, 1 clove for toasted bread)
• 2 g Dried red chili pepper
• 0.5 pieces Green bell pepper
• 100 ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 200 ml Dry white wine
• 500 ml Hot water (to extend the sauce)
• 40 g Sea salt (about 30 g for purging clams, remainder for the sauce)
• 4 slices Rustic bread, toasted
• 15 g Fresh parsley

Preparazione

1. Place the clams in a bowl with cold water and sea salt (about 30 g salt per liter) and let them purge for 1-2 hours in the dark, changing the water halfway through. Discard any with broken shells or that remain open when touched. When ready to use, drain them with a skimmer, lifting them from the water and leaving the sand at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Clean the octopus: remove the beak, eyes, and innards, rinse thoroughly. Place it in a pot with cold unsalted water, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for about 35-40 minutes until a knife tip slides through the thickest part without resistance. Turn off heat and let it cool in its cooking liquid for another 15-20 minutes: meanwhile you can prepare the fish and start the sauce. Then drain and cut tentacles and body into walnut-sized pieces.
3. While the octopus cooks, prepare the fish: scale and gut the scorpionfish, sea bass, and bream (and red mullet if using), remove the fins and rinse under cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Cut the fish into steaks 1-1.2 inches thick; peel the monkfish and cut into medallions. Discard heads and spines (or save for another stock). Keep the fish separate: the firmer ones (scorpionfish, monkfish) on one side, the more delicate ones (sea bass, bream, red mullet) on the other.
4. Bring about 500 ml of water to a boil and keep it warm over very low heat: it will be used to extend the sauce, as tradition demands, without the need for fish stock.
5. Heat the olive oil in the earthenware pot over medium-low heat. Add 3 crushed garlic cloves with their skin, the crumbled dried chili, and the green bell pepper cut into strips, and let them infuse for 4-5 minutes until the oil is fragrant and the pepper is softened, without browning the garlic.
6. Deglaze with the white wine, raise the heat and let it evaporate for 3-4 minutes until the alcohol smell is gone. Add the crushed canned tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Simmer the sauce over medium-low heat with the lid slightly ajar for about 15 minutes, adding hot water one ladle at a time if it reduces too much: the sauce should remain quite liquid but well concentrated. Keep any remaining water to adjust the consistency until the end.
7. Add the octopus pieces to the sauce and cook over low heat for 5 minutes to infuse with flavor. Meanwhile, heat a griddle or large skillet without oil and toast the bread slices 2-3 minutes per side until golden; rub them with the remaining peeled garlic clove and keep them warm covered with a kitchen towel.
8. Place the scorpionfish and monkfish steaks in the pot first and, after 3 minutes, add the sea bass, bream, and red mullet, immersing them halfway into the sauce. Cover and cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes, without stirring but shaking the pot occasionally.
9. Drain the purged clams with a skimmer and distribute them in the pot among the fish and octopus pieces. Cover and cook for the final 4-5 minutes until they open and the fish is cooked: the flesh should be white and opaque. Discard any clams that remain closed. Adjust salt only now if needed, and remove from heat.
10. Roughly chop the parsley leaves, discarding the stems, and sprinkle over the brodetto. Bring the pot to the table while still hot and serve with the garlic-rubbed toasted bread.