Brodetto alla pescarese

Brodetto alla pescarese is the fish stew of Pescara’s fishermen. Mixed fish from the Adriatic (scorpion fish, gurnard, monkfish, small hake), cuttlefish, mussels and shellfish are cooked together in a sauce of tomato and sweet pepper.

Like the other brodetti of the Abruzzo coast, it is cooked in an earthenware pan without stirring and served with toasted bread.

• 1.5 kg mixed cleaned fish
• 400 g cuttlefish
• 500 g mussels and clams
• 8 langoustines or mantis shrimps
• 2 sweet red peppers (or 1 tablespoon sweet pepper powder)
• 500 g peeled tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves, parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil, salt, chilli
• Toasted country bread

1. Open the mussels and clams in a covered pan; strain their liquid.
2. In the earthenware pan warm the oil with the garlic, add the peppers in strips and let them soften.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes; add the cuttlefish in pieces and cook for another 15 minutes.
4. Arrange the fish, firmest first, and pour in the shellfish liquid and a little hot water.
5. Cook for 15–20 minutes, shaking the pan without stirring; add the langoustines, mussels and clams in the last minutes.
6. Finish with parsley and serve in the pan with toasted bread.

• Use the day’s catch and ask your fishmonger for a «brodetto» assortment.
• Heat the earthenware pan gradually, on low heat at first.
• Leftover sauce makes a great spaghetti dressing.

We do not have photos of this dish yet: the image is an illustration made for this page.

Pescara grew up on the river and the sea, and its fishing fleet has always been important. Brodetto was the fishermen’s meal on board and in the homes near the canal harbour.

Today it is one of the city’s best-loved fish dishes, served in restaurants at the harbour and on the seafront.