Nantucket Seafood Stew

I adore Boston. My sister, Julie, and I stayed at the Liberty Hotel when we took Miss G. back to school in August. The Liberty has a great historic Beacon Hill location and is right across the street from the Charles/MGH redline t-stop, three stops from Miss G’s school. It sits at the intersection of Charles Street and Cambridge Street and it is a quick 10 minute jaunt to Boston Commons in one direction and a longer 20 minute walk in the other to get a cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End. Perfect location.

On this visit, we were treated to dinner one evening by my brother and sister-in-law who were in Boston dropping off my nephew, Chase, for his freshman year at Boston College. We ate at a small, cozy Beacon Hill neighborhood bistro, 75 Chestnut. My brother and I had their wonderful Nantucket Seafood Stew which was full of shrimp, scallops, salmon, swordfish, halibut, seabass, carrots and bliss potatoes in a thick tomato base. For the life of me, I couldn’t find a recipe like it anywhere, so here is my attempt to duplicate it. It turned out pretty delicious!  Please note: I think any combination of seafood would work, this is just my version….

Nantucket Seafood Stew

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup carrots, peeled & medium diced
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and medium diced
• 14-16 (2-3 cups) baby potatoes, cut into large chunks, I like the yellow ones
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (28 oz) cans Italian plum tomatoes (the best quality you can get)
• 4 cups seafood or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 pound large shrimp (32-36 per pound), peeled and deveined
• 1/2 pound scallops, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 pound salmon, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 pound halibut or any firm whitefish, cut into bite sized pieces
• kosher salt & pepper
• 2 T. italian parsley, minced

Cooking Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions, carrots, fennel, potatoes and garlic. Saute for about 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are barely cooked.
2. Coarsely chop the tomatoes in a food processor and add to the pot along with the stock, wine, 1 T. kosher salt and 1 t. pepper.
3. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes.
4. Add the seafood and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes more, until the seafood is just cooked.
5. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.