Now that it is cold I’m really enjoying two things: soups and spicy meals. This seafood stew has both! I used our homemade, ground chorizo in this recipe to give it a little zip. Check out the recipe that we followed to make our chorizo here. Of course, if you don’t have the time to make your own you can easily find compliant chorizo at many stores. In the past I’ve used Wellshire farms’ smoked chorizo sausage and found it quite nice. I really enjoy their products and have seen them at Whole Foods. I used some store-bought seafood stock since I didn’t have time to make my own. Honestly, I have never made my own fish stock and I use it so rarely that it is not something I keep on hand anyways. I used Kitchen Basics Seafood stock. I think their vegetable stock is compliant as well. But make sure you check the label! In the past I have purchased items that I read were complaint in the store only to recheck the ingredients at home to find I completely looked over some sugar or MSG. Check and recheck your labels.
Spicy Chorizo and Seafood Stew
Ingredients:
1 pound little neck clams
1 pound mussels
1/3 pound fresh, whole shrimp
½ pound small yellow potatoes
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes with the juice
3 cups fish stock- make sure it is complaint
2 cloves of garlic minced
½ yellow onion diced
½ pound ground chorizo- make sure it is compliant
1 Tablespoon ghee
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley- chopped, for garnish
Kitchen equipment needed:
Large pot or enameled Dutch oven with a lid- this is what I have
- To clean the mussels and clams, put them in a large bowl with 2 quarts of water to soak for a few minutes. Scrub them with a brush under running water. Discard any whose shells aren’t tightly shut. Remove the “beard” from each mussel with your fingers.
- Heat the pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat and melt the ghee.
- Once heated up, add the onion and garlic into the pot and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until translucent but not browned.
- Add in the chorizo and break it into small pieces. Cook the chorizo for 4-5 minutes until slightly browned.
- Add in the potatoes, tomatoes, and fish stock and simmer for approximately 6-7 minutes. The potatoes should be getting tender but will not be fully cooked.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Add in the seafood and place the lid on the pot. Cook for 8-10 minutes. After this time the mussels and clams should be opened and the shrimp is pink and curled. Discard any clams & mussels that have not opened.
- Sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley on top of each bowl to serve.
On another note, you can use raw, peeled, & deveined shrimp in this dish if the whole, head on shrimp is not your thing. I don’t mind just throwing the whole shrimp right in the pot!
I hope you enjoy this recipe. I’d love to hear your comments if you’ve made this stew.