Last Updated on August 23, 2023
The “Feast of Seven Fishes” is an Italian Christmas Eve tradition—or, more correctly, an Italian-American tradition that has grown in popularity over the years.
While the cena della Vigilia or Christmas Eve dinner is an Italian culinary celebration, the eating of seven different kinds of fish is not something common across Italy, but more of a southern Italian tradition that has been adopted here in America.
A perfect dish for the feast—or any chilly night—is cioppino, a hearty tomato-based fish stew. Cioppino is as Italian-American as it gets, as it was originally made in the North Beach area of San Francisco by the Italian immigrant fisherman using whatever fresh fish or leftover they had on hand.
For this version, we use lobster tails, cod, and scallops with our favorite sauce: Rao’s Arrabbiata sauce. In under 30 minutes, you’ll have this belly-warming fish stew ready for an easy dinner or as part of a holiday tradition.
Because of its roots in San Francisco, a few pieces of crispy sourdough bread complements this dish perfectly. Make sure you get enough to sop up all of this flavorful stew and its scrumptious seafood bits!
Easy Cioppino with Lobster, Cod, and Scallops
Ingredients
- 2 ButcherBox lobster tails
- ½ pound ButcherBox scallops
- 2 filets ButcherBox cod (or 2 tilapia filets)
- 1 jar Rao’s Homemade Arrabbiata sauce
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ½ of a white onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ of a lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pat scallops dry and place into pan, searing for 1 minute on each side. Remove and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add onion and garlic. Sauté until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.
- Add vegetable broth, Rao’s Homemade sauce, lobster tail, cod, and fresh basil, cover. Cook on medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until cod is flakey and the internal temperature of the lobster tail is 135°F and tail is bright red.
- Add scallops back into the skillet and stir. Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes until simmering.
- Uncover, sprinkle with parmesan and parsley, squeezing lemon over top.
- Enjoy the dish by itself or over noodles.
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