Classic Ancona-style seafood broth with sagnette & dried ‘big bastard’ chilli

(Brodetto all’anconetana con sagnette e bastardone)

Serves 6

2½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 medium onion, cut into 5 mm (¼ inch) dice

1 medium celery stalk, cut into 5 mm (¼ inch) dice

1 medium carrot, cut into 5 mm (¼ inch) dice

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2½ tablespoons white wine vinegar

1.8 litres (63 fl oz) crustacean broth

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) good-quality tomato passata (puréed tomatoes)

fine sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 medium potato, cut into 5 mm (¼ inch) dice

200 g (7 oz) good-quality dried sagnette pasta (see Note)

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) mixed cleaned and prepared fish and shellfish (such as prawns (shrimp), calamari, squid, clams, mussels, scorpion fish, scallops, scampi, snapper), cut into bite-sized pieces

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

6 slices Italian bread, toasted and rubbed with garlic

6 very large dried red chillies

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and slowly sauté until the onion and garlic become translucent. Raise the heat and add the vinegar. Cook for a few minutes before adding the crustacean broth and tomato passata. Bring to the boil and season with the sea salt and black pepper. Add the potato and then slowly simmer for 20 minutes. Add the dried pasta and cook for a further 8–12 minutes or until the pasta is fully cooked. Add the seafood and raise the heat. Be sure to add the clams first and cook for a minute before adding the rest of the seafood. Cook for a few minutes until all the mussels and clams have opened. Be careful not to overcook the fish. Stir in the parsley and serve by placing the toasted bread and the dried chilli on top of the soup. Complete by drizzling extra virgin olive oil over the bread and into the soup. Serve immediately.

NOTE: Sagnette pasta is roughly the thickness of tagliatelle and about 7 cm (2¾ inches) long. Broken tagliatelle and linguini are good substitutes.