P
Italian · Marche
Cacciucco alla Marchigiana con Verdure di Mare
The Marche Adriatic coast's layered fish soup — related to Livornese cacciucco but distinct in its use of vegetables as co-equal components. A base of sautéed fennel, celery, carrot and onion in olive oil is built, then white wine deglazes, followed by passata and a generous quantity of fish scraps and heads (used to build a light brodo before being strained out). Mixed fish — typically scorfano, gronco, seppie and vongole — are added in sequence. The seppie and firm fish go first (15 minutes), then clams in their shells last (5 minutes). Served in wide bowls over slices of grilled bread rubbed with garlic, the fish laid over the soaked bread and the broth ladled over everything.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the fish brodo
500 g
fish heads and frames (scorfano or mixed white fish)
rinsed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 litre
cold water
Your own market
For the vegetable base
1 medium
fennel bulb
finely sliced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 stalks
celery
finely chopped
Your own market
1 medium
carrot
finely chopped
Your own market
1 medium
onion
finely chopped
Your own market
80 ml
extra-virgin olive oil
Your own market
150 ml
dry white wine
for deglazing
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
400 g
tomato passata
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 pinch
saffron
dissolved in 2 tbsp warm brodo
Your own market
For the fish
250 g
seppie (cuttlefish)
cleaned, cut into strips
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
250 g
gronco (conger eel) or other firm white fish
cut into portions
Your own market
250 g
scorfano (scorpionfish) or other delicate white fish
cut into portions
Your own market
400 g
vongole (clams)
scrubbed, in their shells
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For serving
8 slices
stale country bread
cut thickly
Your own market
2 cloves
garlic
peeled, halved
Your own market
4 tbsp
extra-virgin olive oil
raw, for finishing
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Place the fish heads and frames in a pot with cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, skimming any foam. Strain through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Dissolve the saffron in 2 tablespoons of the warm brodo and set aside. The brodo is ready when it is clear, pale gold, and smells of the sea without sharpness.
2
Warm the olive oil in a wide, deep pot over a medium flame. Add the fennel, celery, carrot and onion. Sweat without colouring until the fennel is fully soft and translucent and the mixture smells sweet and aromatic, approximately 10–12 minutes. The fennel must surrender completely — this is the Marche character of the dish and cannot be rushed.
3
Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the white wine. Deglaze, scraping any deposit from the base of the pot. Cook until the sharp alcohol smell has left the steam and only a clean, fruity note remains, approximately 2 minutes.
4
Add the passata and the saffron-brodo. Stir to combine. Pour in enough of the remaining fish brodo to give a loose, brothy consistency. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes until the tomato loses its raw edge. The surface should move with a quiet, even bubble — not a rolling boil.
5
This is where the dish lives or dies: add the seppie and firm white fish (gronco, scorfano) in sequence strictly by cooking time. The seppie and any firm fish go first; cook, without stirring, for 12–15 minutes, repositioning gently with tongs only if required. After 12–15 minutes, add the vongole in their shells and cook for a further 3–5 minutes only. The soup is done when every clam shell has opened and the cuttlefish yields without resistance to a gentle press. Discard any clams that remain shut. Do not stir; do not overcook.
6
While the fish finishes, grill the bread slices on the cut side until the surface is hard and deeply golden. Rub immediately with the cut face of a garlic clove. Place two slices in each wide bowl. The bread is correctly prepared when it resists the thumbnail and smells of toasted grain and raw garlic.
7
Lay the fish portions over the grilled bread, arranging any reserved unopened-looking clams for presentation. Ladle the broth over everything. Finish each bowl with a thread of raw extra-virgin olive oil. Serve immediately: the bread should be soaked through but still hold its form — neither dry nor dissolved.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Whole live vongole from the Adriatic littoral, line-caught scorfano and gronco from a named day-boat, single-estate cold-pressed Marche olive oil, and a saffron of declared provenance dissolved directly into the brodo.
02
Estate — Market-fresh seppie, scorfano and gronco purchased the morning of cooking; a reliable artisan passata; good-quality dry Verdicchio for deglazing.
03
Market — Day-fresh mixed white fish with at minimum three species; farmed vongole; commercial passata; a clean neutral white wine.
04
House — Frozen mixed seafood defrosted overnight in the refrigerator and drained; tinned whole tomatoes passed through a sieve; any dry white table wine. The layered sequential method still improves the result markedly over a single-addition approach.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. The sweated fennel and vegetable base smells sweet and aromatic, not raw or sharp, before the wine is added.
◇Smell. After deglazing, the steam carries no harsh alcohol — only a clean, fruity note.
◇Sight. The broth simmers with a quiet, even surface movement; a rolling boil would break the fish.
◇Touch. Cuttlefish yields without resistance to gentle pressure at 12–15 minutes; any firmness means more time is needed.
◇Sight. Every vongole shell has opened at 3–5 minutes; any that remain shut are discarded.
◇Touch. The grilled bread resists the thumbnail and does not flex — it will absorb broth without dissolving.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies in the sequential addition of fish by cooking time: seppie and firm fish for 12–15 minutes, bivalves for 3–5 minutes only — a single pot with all species added simultaneously produces overcooked clams and undercooked squid in the same bowl.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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