Fisherman’s Acquacotta (Acquacotta del Pescatore)
Acquacotta is a true peasant dish. Fishermen of another time may have added a piece of long-lasting baccalà (dried salted cod) or some cheap but tasty fish brought in with the catch – the sort of fish that maybe never makes it to the market. But this is a modern version, using a popular mixture of clams, mussels and prawns – the same mix that you would find in a spaghetti allo scoglio – but you could add anything you like.
Ingredients 11
500 g clams and mussels, scrubbed and cleaned
4 mazzancolle prawns, large
60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 brown onions, (yellow onions) finely sliced
1 stalk celery, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, whole, peeled
1 red chilli, small, chopped, optional
700 g tomato passata, (puréed tomato)
500 ml water, plus extra if needed
4 slices tuscan bread, thick, stale
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, (italian parsley), chopped
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Method 7
Weed out any clams with crushed shells (a tiny chip or crack is usually fine) or that are open and don’t move when touched or squeezed. (Rule of thumb: if they are open before cooking, they’re dead. If they don’t open after cooking, they’re dead. Throw them away). Purge the clams, if necessary, for at least 1 hour. See notes below.
Scrub the mussels and pull out the beards. I like the whole if they are smaller, but they can be a bit messy to eat, so you can chop them in half lengthways, right down the body, to make it easier to access the meat without getting fingers too messy.
Pour the into a large casserole pot and warm over gentle heat. Cook the and , along with a pinch of salt, in the oil until very soft, about 15–20 minutes. The slower the better – do not let the onions colour, so stir them often, keep the heat low and add a splash of if necessary.
Add one of the and the , cook for 1 minute, then add the and . Season with salt and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about 40 minutes, topping up with water if it begins to look too thick.
In the meantime, prepare the – stale bread is best as it soaks up the liquid without becoming soggy. If it is not stale, you can dry it out in a low oven until crisp. Rub the bread once with the remaining .
Add the , to the simmering liquid. Cover and let them cook for about 2 minutes, or until the shells have opened and the prawns are just cooked.
Remove from the heat and stir through the . Place the stale in the bottom of the serving bowls and scoop the acquacotta over the top of them, distributing the seafood evenly.
Emiko Davies' tips
In a seafood cookbook called La Cucina Toscana di Mare, by prolific Italian food writer Laura Rangoni, there are two enticing seafood acquacotta recipes. One features fresh and salted anchovies and silverbeet (Swiss chard) together with the tomato-based soup. Instead of poaching the eggs in the soup, Rangoni beats the eggs with a handful of grated pecorino cheese and pours this over the top. The other is an acquacotta with chickpeas and wedge clams, which are first cooked so the clam meat can be plucked out, then added to the soup without their shells. She sprinkles grated pecorino cheese on the bread first, then pours the acquacotta on top.
