Nothing like Cioppino when you're feeling Crabby

I have been struggling with my Bay Area commute lately.  Usually it's a predictable 1 hour and 15 minute ride each way which gives me a chance to unwind, chat with my best friend Cathy, listen to all the podcasts I follow or enjoy some soothing, relaxing music. Lately, however, it has been horrific, with several days in the last two weeks taking more than 2 hours in each direction.  Even all my trusty shortcuts (like the secret route through the convent grounds) have been clogged up, making me irritable and very hangry by the time I get home.

Eating out is an option but it comes with a cost - both expensive and pretty unhealthy since most restaurant food is loaded with butter and sodium. It's hard to lose weight when you eat out a lot, so I have been making an effort to try to cook for myself whenever possible.  With all that thinking time on my hands as I crawl home at 3 miles an hour, I was able to strategize this fairly quick recipe which used a fresh, whole dungeness crab and some ingredients I had on hand from my farm box delivery - basil, bell peppers, onions, carrots, and celery, plus a can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes and some tomato paste.  I like to make the cioppino base extra thick, similar to how they do it at Sotto Mare in San Francisco's North Beach - a gem of a hole in the wall restaurant that has THE BEST cioppino in the entire world.  You can add other seafood to this besides just crab, but I was in a hurry and wanted to go with what was easy and convenient.  Any firm white fish (I'm not a fan of salmon in a dish like this), shrimp, clams, mussels, or scallops would be a good addition.

Including the time spent stopping at the store to buy the crab, this whole dinner took less than an hour to make and was very satisfying despite how low-fat it was. Best of all, there was a lot of sauce left over, which I was able to re-use to make a version of the French Basque dish, Piperade.   Both recipes are included below.

Crab Cioppino

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped into small dice
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large red bell pepper, cut into small dice
2 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 tsp salt
1 28 oz can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 cup full bodied red wine (like Zinfandel)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 whole cooked Dungeness crab, cleaned, and well-cracked (body broken into 4 pieces and legs left whole but cracked liberally to allow sauce to seep in)
1/4 cup fresh basil chiffonade

Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add and heat the oil.  When the oil heated, add the onion and saute until it starts to soften and is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, bell pepper, carrots and celery, stir to coat with the oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the salt and cook until softened, about 8 - 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, water, remaining salt and red pepper flakes and stir to combine.  Turn up the heat to high and cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.  While the sauce is simmering, clean and crack the crab, then add it to the sauce and stir well to coat.  Cook for an additional 15 minutes, then stir in the basil which has been chiffonaded (? is that a word?*). To serve, remove the crab pieces and serve them in bowls with some of the sauce and toasted garlic bread. Reserve the left over sauce for a second use.

* When you are writing sometimes you get stumped on how to properly describe something.  This was my dilemna when trying to discuss basil chiffonade and a quick web search indicated I am not the only one stumped by this word.  See the Pioneer Woman's blog post about this very topic, and learn how to prepare basil chiffonade at the same time!   http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/how-tochiffonade-basil/

Cioppino-style Piperade

Piperade is traditionally made with lots of bell peppers but this cioppino sauce has a very similar flavor profile so I just adapted it slightly so it can be used in the same way piperade is traditionally eaten - with soft boiled eggs and crispy slices of baguette.  There is nothing so delicious as breaking into the warm, rich, runny egg yolk and letting it flow into the tomato sauce before you scoop it up with a crisp piece of toasted bread!  Note, however, that because this base was used to cook shellfish, there is a definite seafood flavor to it.  If you are expecting a traditional sweet pepper flavor with this, you will be disappointed.

1 tsp piment d'espellete or smoked paprika
2-3 eggs
optional 1 cup broth, white, or red wine
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Several slices of crispy toasted baguettes

To the leftover sauce, add about a teaspoon of piment d'espellete or smoked paprika and rewarm ina skillet over medium heat.  If you need to stretch the sauce you can add some broth or additional white or red wine to get to the consistency of a very thick pasta sauce.  Make two or three wells in the sauce with your spoon and crack an egg into each well.  Cover the skillet.  Simmer until the egg whites are set but the yolks are stilll runny, spooning a little sauce over them now and then to help the tops to set.  This should take about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the stove, sprinkle with the cheese and serve with crispy, toasted baguette slices.