Brodetto alla vastese

Buying and keeping the fish and shellfish

The quantities and the method follow the Accademia's published recipe whole. The weight of each group of fish, the place of the mussels and clams, the water, the sizes, heat levels, times, checks and tips marked ‘Our guide’ are ours, after the public food-safety guidance listed in the sources.

1. 1Buy the fish and shellfish fresh, on the day

   Start
   Hands-on 5 min

   Buy 2.5 kg of mixed Adriatic fish, whole, in the three groups listed: 300 g of mantis shrimp, 400 g of gurnard and 300 g of small squid for the first group, 800 g of firm-fleshed fish for the middle and 700 g of delicate fish for the last. Buy 300 g of live mussels and 300 g of live clams, each in a sealed net with its label.

   Check The fish have bright eyes, red gills and firm flesh, and smell fresh and mild; the mussel and clam shells are closed and whole, and their labels give the packing date.

   Tip Our guide: fish that smells fishy, sour or of ammonia is not fresh: leave it. Ask the fishmonger which fish came in that morning, and build the groups from those.

   Tip Our guide: leave shellfish that is sitting in water at the counter or has no label. In Italy mussels may not be sold under 5 cm long, nor clams under 2.5 cm.

   Tip Our guide: the recipe asks for many kinds. If one is missing, make up its weight with another of the same group.

2. 2Keep everything cold

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   Hands-on 2 min

   At home, put the fish straight into the fridge, at 4 °C or below, on a plate, covered, on the bottom shelf. Put the mussels and clams in an open bowl covered with a damp cloth, in the fridge too.

   Check The fridge thermometer reads 4 °C or below, and everything was in the fridge within a few minutes of coming home.

   Tip Our guide: never shut live shellfish in a sealed bag or leave them in tap water: they need air, and fresh water kills them.

   Tip Our guide: on a hot day carry everything home in a cool bag; fish and shellfish should never be out of the fridge for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32 °C.

Cleaning the fish

The fish go into the pot whole, with their heads; only a fish too large for the pot is cut.

1. 3Scale, gut and rinse the fish, heads on

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   Hands-on 30–40 min

   Clean the gurnard, the firm-fleshed fish and the delicate fish under cold running water, leaving them whole with their heads. Leave the small ray in its skin.

   Check Every fish is scaled, empty and rinsed, with no gills and no blood along the backbone, and still has its head.

   Tip Our guide: scrape off the scales from tail to head with a scaler or the back of a knife, slit the belly with scissors and pull out the guts, then cut out the gills, which make the sauce bitter. Rinse inside and out.

   Tip Our guide: cut the tail of the monkfish across into 2 or 3 pieces through the bone, so it lies flat. The sole and scaldfish need only their guts and gills taken out; leave their skin on.

   Tip Our guide: gurnard and scorpionfish have sharp spines on the back and gills: snip them off with scissors first, and hold the weever by the head, as its spines sting.

   Tip Our guide: your fishmonger will scale and gut the fish if you ask; have the heads left on.

2. 4Clean the squid

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   Hands-on 8–10 min

   Clean the small squid and leave them whole.

   Check No quill, beak, eyes or innards are left; the bodies are white and whole, with their tentacles beside them.

   Tip Our guide: pull the head and innards out of the body, take out the clear quill, cut the tentacles off just in front of the eyes and squeeze out the beak from the middle of them. Rinse the body inside. With small cuttlefish, keep the ink sac out.

3. 5Rinse the mantis shrimp and crab

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   Hands-on 3 min

   Rinse the mantis shrimp, and the crab if you have one, under cold running water, leaving them in their shells.

   Check They are clean and whole, in their shells.

   Tip Our guide: mantis shrimp have sharp spines along the tail and claws that can cut: hold them by the body.

4. 6Sort the fish onto three plates

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   Hands-on 3 min

   Put the fish on three plates, by how long they take to cook: on the first the mantis shrimp, gurnard and squid; on the second the firm-fleshed fish (weever, scorpionfish or stargazer, ray, monkfish and crab); on the third the delicate fish (hake, grey mullet, sole, scaldfish and red mullet). Cover them and put them back in the fridge.

   Check Three covered plates in the fridge, the firmest fish on the first.

   Tip Our guide: wash your hands, the board and the knife with soap and warm water after handling raw fish.

The mussels and clams

1. 7Sort the mussels and clams

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   Hands-on 3 min

   Take the mussels and clams out of the fridge and go through them one by one. Throw away any with a cracked or broken shell. Tap any open one against the worktop: if it does not close within about a minute, throw it away.

   Check Only whole shells are left, all of them closed or closing when tapped.

   Tip Our guide: a mussel or clam that stays open when tapped is dead and must not be eaten.

2. 8Scrub the mussels, rinse the clams

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   Hands-on 8–10 min

   Scrub each mussel under cold running water with the brush, scraping off any barnacles, and pull off its beard, the tuft of threads between the shells, with a firm tug. Rinse the clams in a colander in several changes of cold water, shaking them. Put both back in the fridge in their bowl, under the damp cloth.

   Check Clean, dark mussel shells with no threads sticking out, and clams whose last rinsing water is clear, with no sand at the bottom of the bowl.

   Tip Our guide: pull off the beards only now, shortly before cooking: it harms the mussel.

   Tip Our guide: clams from a dispatch centre are usually clean. If one you open is gritty, soak them for an hour in cold water with 35 g of salt per litre, in the fridge, then rinse them again.

The base

1. 9Slice the garlic

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Peel the 2 cloves of garlic and slice them thinly.

   Check Thin, even slices, with no thick pieces.

2. 10Cut the pepper into long strips

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   Hands-on 4 min

   Wash the sweet red pepper, cut out the stalk, seeds and white ribs, and cut the flesh into long strips about 5 mm wide.

   Check A heap of long, thin strips, with no seeds left.

3. 11Chop the parsley, pick the basil

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   Hands-on 3 min

   Pick the leaves from the 15 g of parsley and chop them. Pick the 10 leaves of basil and leave them whole.

   Check Finely chopped parsley with no stalks, and whole basil leaves.

4. 12Halve the tomatoes

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   Hands-on 3 min

   Wash the 500 g of small tomatoes, pull off any stalks and cut them in half. Wash the chilli and keep it aside for the end.

   Check A bowl of halved tomatoes with their juice.

   Tip Our guide: halving them is ours, so they give their juice to the sauce.

Cooking in the terracotta pot

From the moment the fish go in, nothing is stirred and nothing is turned: to move the fish, lift the pot by its handles with oven gloves and swirl it gently, so everything swims in the sauce.

1. 13Everything for the base into the cold pot

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Put the 250 ml of olive oil, the water, about 100 ml, the strips of pepper, the chopped parsley, the sliced garlic, the salt, about 6 g, and the basil leaves into the cold terracotta pot, all together.

   Check The pot holds a shallow layer of oil and water with the pepper, garlic and herbs spread through it; nothing has been fried.

   Tip Our guide: with two pots, share the oil, water and everything after it equally between them.

2. 14Bring it to the boil and let it boil a few minutes

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   Cooking 10–14 minHeat mediumStart 10 min timer

   Set the pot on a medium heat, on its diffuser if you use one, and bring it to the boil. Let it boil for a few minutes.

   Check The oil and water bubble all over the pot, and the pepper strips have begun to soften and the garlic to smell sweet, without colouring.

   Tip Our guide: terracotta heats slowly, about 8–10 minutes to the boil, then 2–4 minutes at the boil. Never put a cold terracotta pot on a hot ring, or a hot one on a cold, wet surface: it can crack.

3. 15The tomatoes

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   Cooking 3–4 minHeat medium

   Add the halved tomatoes and let it come back to the boil.

   Check The base bubbles again all over and the tomatoes have begun to soften and give their juice.

   Tip Our guide: spread them evenly over the bottom, so the fish lie on a bed of tomato and pepper.

4. 16The firmest fish first, with the mussels and clams

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   Hands-on 2–3 minHeat medium

   Lay the mantis shrimp, the gurnard and the squid in the pot, one kind at a time, side by side in the sauce. Add the mussels and clams around them. Put the lid on.

   Check The first group lies in one layer in the sauce, the shellfish tucked in between, and the sauce bubbles again under the lid.

   Tip Our guide: the recipe does not say when the mussels and clams go in. They go in now, with the first fish, so they cook for the whole time: they open within a few minutes, and then stay at the boil for a further 15–20 minutes. Public-health guidance asks for 5 minutes of cooking after the shells open.

   Tip Our guide: lay each fish in gently with your hand or a fish slice; do not drop it in, as the oil is hot.

5. 17The middle group

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   Hands-on 2–3 minHeat medium

   Lift the lid and lay the firm-fleshed fish over and between the first group, one kind at a time, the ray flat and the monkfish pieces in the gaps. Put the lid back on.

   Check The second group is in, with as little overlapping as possible, and the sauce bubbles again around it.

   Tip Our guide: wait until the sauce bubbles again before each group; it takes 2–3 minutes.

6. 18The most delicate fish last

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Lay the hake, grey mullet, sole, scaldfish and red mullet on top, one kind at a time, so they are not crushed.

   Check All the fish are in the pot, the most delicate on top, and the sauce is bubbling up around them.

   Tip Our guide: if the pot is too full for one layer, lay the delicate fish over the others rather than underneath; they cook in the steam under the lid.

7. 19Lid on, 15–20 minutes, never stirred

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   Cooking 15–20 minHeat medium-lowStart 15 min timer

   Put the lid on and cook the brodetto for 15–20 minutes without stirring it at all. Now and then, lift the pot gently by its handles and swirl it in small, flat circles, so the fish move and swim in the sauce.

   Check Steam escapes at the edge of the lid and the sauce bubbles steadily all the time; the fish have not stuck and have not broken.

   Tip Our guide: keep it at a steady bubble: on a medium-low to medium heat, depending on your hob. Swirl the pot every 4–5 minutes, with oven gloves, keeping it level.

   Tip Our guide: keep the lid on; lift it only for the check at the end.

8. 20Make sure the fish and shellfish are cooked

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   Hands-on 2 min

   Lift the lid and push a probe thermometer into the thickest fish, near the backbone but not touching it.

   Check The thermometer reads at least 63 °C, the flesh is opaque all through and comes away from the bone easily, the mantis shrimp and squid are opaque and firm, and every mussel and clam is open. If not, put the lid back on for 3–5 minutes more and check again.

   Tip Our guide: 63 °C is the temperature US food-safety guidance gives for fish and shellfish. The thickest fish is usually the gurnard or the largest of the middle group.

   Tip Our guide: throw away any mussel or clam that is still shut.

9. 21Finish with fresh chilli

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   Hands-on 1 min

   Take the pot off the heat and break or snip the fresh red chilli over the top.

   Check Pieces of red chilli are scattered over the fish.

   Tip Our guide: for a milder stew, use only part of the chilli.

   Tip Our guide: taste a spoonful of the sauce from the edge of the pot and, if it needs it, add a pinch of salt at the side, then swirl the pot once.

10. 22Serve it bubbling, in its pot

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    Hands-on 3 min

    Bring the pot to the table at once, on a board or a folded cloth, and serve the brodetto while it is still bubbling, giving each plate a share of every kind of fish and shellfish with plenty of sauce.

    Check Each plate has some of every fish, whole and unbroken, with sauce and open shells.

    Tip Our guide: lift the fish out with a fish slice and a wide spoon so they stay whole, and put a bowl on the table for heads, shells and bones. Warn your guests that the fish keep their bones.

    Tip Many serve slices of toasted bread on the side, for the sauce.

    Tip Our guide: from the moment it comes off the heat, the brodetto may stand at room temperature for 2 hours at most (1 hour on a day above 32 °C). Put any leftovers in shallow containers in the fridge within that time.