#23 of Italian forgotten classic: Cacciucco

#23 of Italian Forgotten Classics: Cacciucco (Toscana – Livorno)
In Livorno, when fishermen didn’t return from the sea, their wives gathered whatever seafood they could — and made Cacciucco.
Ingredients (Serves 6):
• 500 g octopus (polpo) or moscardini• 500 g mixed cephalopods (squid, seppie, totani)• 300–500 g mixed fish for broth and meat — such as: – Scorfano (scorpionfish) – Gallinella (red gurnard) – Tracina (weeverfish) – Pesce prete (stargazer) – Palombo (dogfish)• 300–500 g shellfish and crustaceans (mussels, clams, shrimp, or scampi)• 500 g ripe tomatoes or tomato passata• 1 tbsp tomato concentrate• 1 onion
• 1 carrot• 1 celery stalk• 2 cloves garlic• 1 red chili• 1 bay leaf• A few sage leaves• 1 glass (about 200 ml) red wine• White wine for deglazing the stock• Olive oil• Salt and black pepper• Chopped parsley, to finish• 8 slices rustic Tuscan bread, grilled and rubbed with garlic
Instructions:
1. Clean the fish and shellfish. Use fish scraps (heads and bones) to prepare a stock: brown in olive oil, deglaze with white wine, then add chopped carrots, celery, onion, salt, pepper, and enough water to cover. Simmer for 2 hours, then strain.
2. Soak clams in salted water for 30 minutes to purge any sand. Scrub and de-beard the mussels.
3. In a large pot, heat olive oil and prepare a soffritto with finely chopped garlic, chili, sage, bay leaf, and onion. Cook gently until fragrant.
4. Add the octopus and squid to the soffritto and brown briefly to develop flavor.
5. Stir in the tomato concentrate and passata, then pour in the red wine and strained fish stock. Bring to a gentle boil.
6. Simmer uncovered for 45–50 minutes until the sauce deepens and the seafood is tender.
7. Add the chopped fish fillets and shrimp. Let the pot return to a low boil.
8. Add the mussels and clams, cover, and cook just until the shells open.
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Welcome to Italian Forgotten Classic, where you discover Italian cooking is more than just pastra and pizza. In Livorno a Tuskan Port City, fisherman’s wives once waited with worry for their husband lost at sea. But instead of giving up they created cachuco. Using beats of seafood donated by neighbors they turn hardship into a hurty steel. Cachucco begins with at least five seafood treasures from the Tuscan coast. Tender octopus, flavorful scorpion fish, shrimps, fresh claims and delicate squid. First comes theful fish stock, slowly simmered with vegetables, olive oil and a splash of white wine. But what gives caci warmth is the soffritto, garlic, sage, ba leaves and chili brown with squid and octopus. Then married with rich tomatoes, red wine and the deep freshly made stock. 45 minutes later, Kachucco is ready to welcome the fish filet and the shrimps. Those are gently poached until boiling picks up again. And just at the end, you can add claims and muscles. Servamy hot over crusty grilled bread that soaks up every delicious drop. This isn’t just a stew, it’s Livorno in a bowl. Resilience, community, and tradition. Reminding you why dishes like a ciucco deserve to be remembered.