Zuppa di Pesce alla Livornese

Ingredients

• For the battuto
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, stalks separated and reserved, leaves roughly chopped
• 2–3 diavolini livornesi (dried Livornese chillies), crumbled; substitute peperoncino piccante
• 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil, generous measure
• For the tomato base
• 800 g San Marzano tomatoes, peeled, crushed by hand
• 15 ml tomato paste, optional; for deeper colour and body
• For the fish — in order of addition
• 300 g cuttlefish, cleaned, cut into strips
• 300 g scorpionfish (scorfano), scaled, gutted, cut into bone-in pieces
• 300 g clams, scrubbed, purged in cold salted water
• 300 g mussels, scrubbed, debearded
• 300 g whole prawns, unpeeled
• To serve
• 4 thick slices coarse country bread, toasted
• 1 garlic clove, halved, for rubbing the toast
• 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling over toast

Method

1. 1
   Combine the garlic, parsley stalks, and crumbled diavolini in a wide, heavy-based pot. Add the olive oil and place over a medium flame. Fry the battuto until the garlic is golden at the edges and the chilli is fragrant — the oil should smell sharply of garlic and heat.
2. 2
   Add the crushed San Marzano tomatoes and, if using, the tomato paste. Stir to combine with the battuto. Simmer uncovered over a moderate heat for 20 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: the sauce must reduce to a thick, deeply coloured base before any fish is added — a thin or pale sauce cannot be corrected once the fish is in the pot. The surface should show slow, heavy bubbles and the tomato should have lost all raw sharpness to the taste.
3. 3
   Add the cuttlefish strips. Fold them gently into the tomato base with a wide spoon — do not stir. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, until the cuttlefish has turned opaque and offers no resistance when pressed with the back of the spoon.
4. 4
   Add the scorpionfish pieces, folding them in gently. Simmer for 12 minutes. The fish is ready when the flesh at the bone begins to separate and turns from translucent to white at the thickest point — check by pressing gently; it should yield but not collapse.
5. 5
   Add the clams and mussels. Cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes, shaking the pot once rather than stirring. The step is done when all shells have opened wide — any that remain closed are discarded.
6. 6
   Add the prawns, folding them in gently. Cook uncovered for 3 minutes. The prawns are done when their shells have turned fully pink and the flesh has curled tightly.
7. 7
   Scatter the chopped parsley leaves across the surface of the stew. Toast the bread, rub each slice while hot with the cut side of a halved garlic clove, and drizzle with olive oil. Place one slice in the base of each bowl and ladle the zuppa over it. The bread should be immediately fragrant with garlic as the hot broth meets it.