Caldaro

Caldaro is a traditional fish and shellfish soup, served on toasted homemade bread flavored with garlic.

6 servings

Easy

Facile

Caldaro is a seafood dish with a rich texture, created by combining fish with different textures, shellfish, and a tomato-based sauce. It's a dish best served hot, particularly suited to lunch or dinner, where you want a hearty, fragrant, and complete soup. The cooking process is carried out carefully in the order in which it's added: octopus and cuttlefish form the most tenacious base, while fish and jumbo shrimp are added later to preserve the consistency. The white wine lightens the base, the tomato paste strengthens its color and the extra virgin olive oil binds the aromas of the soffrittoToasted homemade bread, rubbed with garlic, completes the dish, absorbing the dense, flavorful texture of the dish. The recipe is considered traditional Italian.

Instructions

Voice reading

9 steps · natural Italian voice

Prepare the soffritto

Finely chop the onion and parsley. Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a shallow pan large, add the onion, parsley and clove of garlic, then brown over medium heat. Add the onion before it's completely golden brown: it should be soft, fragrant, and lightly browned, with no burnt parts.

Start octopus and cuttlefish

Join the soffritto the pieces of rock octopus and the cuttlefish. Mix to distribute the seasoning and let it cook in the shallow pan, maintaining a moderate heat. Continue cooking until the mollusks begin to soften and the sauce is well combined, without letting the seasoning dry out completely.

Deglaze and flavor

When octopus and cuttlefish they are almost cooked, pour in the white wine and let it evaporate. Add, if required by the available seasoning, a little chili pepper and the tomato pasteStir until the paste dissolves; if the base tends to dry out, add a little hot water to keep the cooking moist and even.

Complete the molluscs

Cook the octopus and the cuttlefishAdding more hot water only when necessary. The stock should remain liquid but still thick, while the shellfish should be fork-tender. Maintain a gentle simmer, avoiding a high heat that could dry out the sauce.

Add conger eel and moray eel

Enter in shallow pan Add the conger eel and moray eel pieces. Cook them in the seasoned stock, maintaining a moderate boil to avoid overcooking the flesh. Wait until the fish begins to firm up and the seasoning takes on a more intense marine aroma.

Join the other fish

Then add the scorpion fish, the John Dory, the weever fish, the jumbo shrimp and the ladybug. Arrange the pieces delicately and continue cooking without stirring vigorously, to keep them intact. The process is complete when the pulp is cooked and the jumbo shrimp they changed color.

Adjust the bottom

Taste the seasoning and season with salt to taste Add more water only if necessary. Add more water, a little at a time, until the soup is thick and well-combined: the liquid should coat the spoon, without being watery or dry. Bring to a gentle boil.

Toast the bread

Toast the slices of homemade bread until golden and crispy on the surface. Rub them with the clove of garlic, so as to flavor them without weighing down the soup. The bread is ready when it retains a dry, sturdy structure, suitable for absorbing the juices.

Serve the Caldaro

Arrange the toasted, garlic-rubbed bread slices on individual plates. Pour the Caldaro, with its thick base, over the bread, distributing the fish and shellfish evenly. Serve immediately, when the bread begins to absorb the sauce but still retains some of its texture.

Chef's Tips

The editorial staff recommends adding the fish in order of consistency, starting with octopus and cuttlefish and ending with the jumbo shrimp, so each ingredient retains its cooking and consistency.