Ligurian Seafood Stew

• Recipe by Andrew Carmellini

Chef Way After blanching peas, snap peas and fingerling potatoes, Carmellini adds them to a homemade mussel broth along with sea bass, clams, an herb pesto and little seafood meatballs made with shrimp, chorizo and scallops.
Easy Way Narrow the ingredient list to the delicious basics—shrimp, sea bass and clams. Use bottled clam broth as a stand-in for mussel broth and flavor it with spicy chorizo.

Ingredients

1. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2. 2 shallots, thinly sliced
3. 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4. 2 tablespoons finely diced chorizo
5. Pinch of crushed red pepper
6. 1 cup dry white wine
7. 2 cups bottled clam broth
8. 1/2 cup water
9. 1 cup basil leaves
10. 1 tablespoon pine nuts
11. 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
12. Salt
13. 2 dozen littleneck clams
14. 1 pound shelled and deveined large shrimp
15. 1 pound sea bass fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
16. 1/2 cup frozen baby peas
17. Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

1. In a medium soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the shallots, garlic, chorizo and crushed red pepper and cook over high heat until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Add the clam broth and water and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the basil, pine nuts, Parmesan and the remaining 1/4 cup of oil. Season with salt.
3. Add the clams to the soup pot and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until they open, about 8 minutes; transfer the clams to a bowl as they open. Add the shrimp and fish to the broth, season with salt and cook until the fish is opaque and firm, about 5 minutes. Return the clams to the pot, add the peas and cook until warmed through. Ladle the stew into deep bowls, drizzle with the pesto and serve with crusty bread.