30 Minute Fennel and Tomato Seafood Cioppino Stew

This soup comes together in 30 minutes, and uses mostly pantry staple ingredients such as vegetable broth, canned diced tomatoes, onions, and frozen shrimp! The only time consuming part of this recipe is chopping up all the vegetables finely. However you can easily delegate this task to your food processor and turn this 10 minute step into a 2 minute step, if that!

Fresh Fennel Bulb - Fennel is a bulbous vegetable with a flavor that resembles black licorice and a texture a lot like crunchy celery. However when cooked, the flavor becomes much more mild and pairs well with tomato base dishes.

Green Bell Peppers - Feel free to use any color bell pepper you have on hand, but because green is less sweet, I personally prefer it.

Yellow Onion - What's a soup without a little onion? The diced onion provides flavor as well as a nice texture to the soup.

Garlic Cloves - All recipes benefit from a touch (or handful) of garlic. It is just a fact. And this soup is no different

Olive Oil - A touch of olive oil is necessary to sauté the vegetables and help them brown nicely.

Fennel Seeds - These tiny seeds pack a ton of flavor! Especially when they are combined with the fresh fennel.

Clam Juice - Clam juice is made by straining the liquid of shucked, cooked clams. It has a unique briny flavor that is delicious in seafood dishes, this soup included. I buy this brand from my local grocery store

Chicken or Vegetable Broth - I like to use some broth instead of another jar of clam juice to 1) cut down on salt and 2) cut down on cost. However, you can use an extra cup of clam juice instead.

Canned Diced Tomatoes - Use the full can of tomatoes, liquid included for this soup. This way, you not only get the flavor of tomatoes, but it also adds volume to the soup without having to add anymore salt-heavy ingredients such as broth or clam juice. If possible, save yourself time spent chopping the tomatoes and buy the diced canned ones.

Spinach - This ingredient is optional, but I prefer to add it for its health benefits. You can substitute for equal parts kale.

Step 1 - Finely dice the onion, green bell peppers, fennel bulb, and garlic. You can also chop them in the food processor to save time.

Step 2 - Heat olive oil in a large soup or stock pot then transfer the vegetables in to sauté for 5 minutes. I like to add the fennel first since that vegetable is the sturdiest and takes the longest to cook. Followed by the onion, garlic, then lastly, bell peppers. After the vegetables have been cooking for 3 minutes, add in the fennel seeds and stir.

Step 3 - Once the vegetables have begun to sweat and have softened, add in the liquids so they do not burn. Pour in the clam juice, vegetable/chicken broth, and canned diced tomatoes. I like to add the vegetable/chicken broth as a filler ingredient because clam juice can be expensive. However, feel free to add more clam juice instead. Make sure to add canned diced tomatoes versus whole ones.

Step 4 - Cover the pot and let the soup simmer on medium low for 20-25 minutes to let all the flavors meld together. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Lastly add the Shrimp for the last 5-7 minutes of cook time. To help the shrimp cook faster, stir them into the soup as oppose to letting them hang on top.

Step 5 - For an extra serving of vegetables, add spinach or kale. Do this for the last 3 minutes of cook time so they do not get too wilted.

Step 6 - Toast a French baguette and serve the soup!

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