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A Classic Italian Christmas Eve Tradition – Zuppa di Pesce (Fish Soup)
In Italian Recipes

A Classic Italian Christmas Eve Tradition – Zuppa di Pesce (Fish Soup)



Zuppa di Pesce (Fish Soup) Recipe:

Olive oil
Butter
1 small onion finely diced
3 to 4 garlic minced
1 cup of dry white wine
1 jar of tomato (diced)
1/4 cup parsley
1 to 2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp roasted red pepper spice salt and pepper to taste

For the fish:

3/4 pound calamari (or a bag of frozen cleaned squid)
1 pound halibut, cod or monk fish
1 bag (pound) of mussels cleaned and scrubbed
12 to 18 cleaned and scrubbed little neck clams
1 pound crab legs
1 pound of large shrimps
You can also add scallops and lobster meat too

In a pot add 1/2 onion chopped and sauté in olive oil for a few minutes. Add 1/2 of the minced garlic
Then add the jar of tomatoes, crush tomatoes if there are big chunks
Let it simmer. Add water if too thick

In a separate pot, sauté the onion and the rest of the garlic in butter and olive oil, add the mussels and then the clams, stir and cover until they open then add the wine and simmer

Simmer for five to ten minutes and drain liquid through a strainer putting aside the shell fish.
Back to the tomato mixture, add calamari, cook for a few minutes on a gentle boil and add halibut then crab and simmer again. Be gentle as you don’t want the halibut to break apart. My suggestion is to remove the white fish and then add it back at the end.
Add the strained clam juice to the pot and once it reaches a boil again add the shrimp. Cook for a few minutes more. Mix clams and mussels to the pot and throw in the parsley.

It’s ready! Add a piece of toasted bread in a bowl and pour stew over top, sprinkle more parsley and drizzle with olive oil. Enjoy!

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33 Comments

  1. @77sun222

    🎄🌲🧑‍🎄 Merry Christmas everyone. Delicious soup❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

  4. @78kokka

    In Italy, a fish-based Christmas Eve dinner was once typical only in the southern regions. In the North, the big lunch was on Christmas Day, usually with a stuffed pasta dish (ravioli, tortellini) in meat broth, followed by boiled meat. Now, Christmas Eve dinner is much more common everywhere.

  5. @mariateeCA

    Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo!!!🤶🎅🏽❄️⛄️🎄❄️🎁🥳🎊🎉🥂🍾🥰❤️🙏🏼

  7. @TruthWillprevail13

    💕Merry Christmas. Like many I’m struggling. But, I will continue to trust God. Even as I’m struggling providing for my children. My husband passed years ago. I’m all alone with two beautiful children both of my sons have special needs. I’m overwhelmed at times because they require so much from me. Sometimes I want to give up. But God keeps me going. Faith over fear. God is a way maker.💕🦋

  10. @lilianaizzo9729

    Hola Nonna Nina, Nonno Pasquele, María y Julián. Los saludamos desde Argentina. Los seguimos siempre. Somos hijos de Italianos. Les deseamos una Feliz Navidad……….

  12. @maryquitecontrary93

    God Bless! My Dad used to make this over linguine. You should have filmed her cleaning the clams and muscles… removing the "beard" for the complete tutorial and stressed why you should not use the open ones.
    Christmas Eve, calamari was stuffed and baked in a casserole with tomato sauce with the tentacles used in the zuppa de pesce. Merry Christmas…now I'm hungry!😂

  13. @girlwhohatedgreen

    Looks good but I also like clam chowder seafood bisque my great Aunt Dorothy's tomatoe soup there was another recipe in mom's soup Bible cookbook for a unique chicken soup calling for seafood instead of chicken now I may have to answer an email

  14. @sisterspooky

    Those tomatoes… that crushed tomatoes, or is that flavored tomato sauce made for pasta??

    I’d love to make this!

  16. @SassyMa_

    I watch your family in dream of one day being blessed with a big family of my own. I’m alone but pray to have a family one day… ❤ God bless your beautiful family

  18. @sad_sunshine0810

    My mom always made oyster stew on xmas eve for dinner and we'd eat a bowl for breakfast while we opened presents. This year will be 20 Christmases I've had without her and this gave so much nostalgia even though it's not the same dish. Merry Christmas, with love 🖤

  19. @janmauro282

    My Mother -in-law would always make baccala in the sauce. She'd then put it over spaghetti. She'd also add potatoes to the baccala and sauce for another dish. That was my favorite!💕🙂🇨🇦

  21. @loubock3238

    LET'S GET SPICY NONNA TO A MILLION BEFORE 2026!!! BUON NATALE TO THIS BEAUTIFUL FAMIGLIA And Everone!

  31. @sallyr.6891

    Looks delicious. Thank you. One tip to get rid of sand before cooking … put all live shelled seafood (muscles, clams) into a bowl of ice cold water with a hand full of salt and wait a half hour for them to spit the sand out; transfer seafood from dirty water bowl to a collindar, rinse and clean the beards off the mussles.