Cacciucco: Fresh & Rich Fish & Tomato Soup

by Micaela Harrasser May 22, 2023

May 22, 2023

Today I am sharing this beautifully rich and tasty fish soup, known as cacciucco. Likely the most famous italian fish soup, this delicacy originated in the port city of Livorno, in gorgeous Tuscany. This soup was born from the necessity to not waste all sorts of fish that would be left at the end of the day at the market, or that would get trapped in the fishermen’s nets. Talking about a beautifully efficient way to not waste food, considering the results! 😀

The original recipe contains 10+ seafood varieties, including shellfish and crustaceans. My version is easier, with just a few (but delicious) ingredients! As general rule, you should get something meaty like a cod fillet, some shrimps or similar for extra taste and bite, ideally some calamari, octopus or similar. We are looking to add consistency to the liquid tomato sauce! But the take home message is of course to experiment – choose the seafood you prefer and see how it goes! 😉

This recipe does take a while, because the idea is to use all the leftovers like bones, shells etc. to make a super tasty fish stock to add to the tomato sauce. Flavor explosion guaranteed! So go to the market, grab a good selection of seafood, and nice bottle of tomato passata, and make this delicacy!

[ratings]

Caciucco: Fresh & Rich Fish & Tomato Soup

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 30 min Cooking Time: 1 h 1 h Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

500g mussels
200g cod fillet
400g shrimps
200g calamari
700 ml tomato passata
500 ml water (for the fish stock)
1 onion cut in half
1 glass white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh parsley finely chopped

Instructions

First, clean the seafood ingredients accordingly.
Chop the bigger pieces into roughly 2cm bite size.
Make sure to save bones, heads, and all other big pieces of leftovers. In my case this included the shrimp heads, the bones and skin from the cod, and some pieces of the calamari.
In a small pot, add the discarded pieces along with the onion.
Add ½ glass of wine, and turn the heat on.
Cook on high heat until the alcohol has evaporated (i.e. you don’t smell it anymore), then add 500ml of water.
Let it simmer on medium/low heat for about 30 minutes.
When about 20 minutes have passed, take a wide pot and add a little bit of olive oil.
Heat up, then add the seafood.
Note: if you plan to use mussels, cook them apart to make sure to discard the ones that do not fully open and to avoid getting sand/dirt in your final dish.
After a minute, add the white wine.
Once the alcohol has evaporated, add the tomato passata and give it a nice stir.
At this time your fish stock should be ready: sieve it through a fine mesh.
Add it to your soup.
Cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If using mussels, add them without shells about 10 minutes before the dish is ready. Once the tomato sauce has reduced, taste it and adjust seasoning.
Serve it with bread to go traditional, and enjoy!