Seafood Bread
This is a great recipe to make for a summer menu; it can be assembled ahead and refrigerated until cooking time. It’s a great party dish. You hollow out a country bread and make crumbs with the inside. Then you fill the bread with fish, shellfish, parsley, garlic, butter, and nuts, top with the bread crumbs, and bake. I use calamari, scallops, shrimp, and cod in this version, but the dish works with only one type of fish, like salmon, or one kind of shellfish, like shrimp. I have even made it with chunks of chicken breast. And I have used big, round, thick breads; baguettes; or individual rolls. The only real change is the cooking time, which has to be adjusted depending on the size of the bread and amount of filling. This is great served with a green salad.
The stuffed bread must cook for 1 hour in a 400-degree oven. That may sound like a long time, but the bread needs it—and it will not be overcooked.
Serves 6
- 1½ cups loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½-pound mixture of scallops, shrimp, calamari, and cod, cleaned or shelled as necessary, and cut into 1- to 1½-inch pieces (it is fine if you have more of one type and less of another)
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped (1½ cups)
- ½ cup minced scallions
- 1 loaf ciabatta (about 15 inches long, 5 inches wide, 2½ inches high; about 1 pound)
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the parsley, garlic, and nuts, along with the salt and pepper, in a food processor and process until well chopped.
Put the shellfish and fish in a large bowl and add the garlic mixture, melted butter, olive oil, mushrooms, and scallions. Mix well.
Cut off a thin slice from the top of the bread loaf and reserve it for a sandwich. Using your fingers, remove the soft insides of the loaf. Process them to crumbs in a food processor. (You should have about 2½ cups crumbs.) Place the hollowed-out loaf on a large piece of nonstick aluminum foil and bring the edges of the foil up around the loaf to hold any leakage during cooking. Place on a baking sheet.
Spoon about two thirds of the fish mixture into the hollowed-out loaf, packing it tightly. Press about half the bread crumbs on top of the filling. Pack the rest of the fish mixture on top of the crumbs. If there is any leftover butter or oil in the bowl that held the filling, place the remainder of the bread crumbs in the bowl and mix gently to moisten them. Press the remaining crumbs on top of the filling. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. (The loaf can be refrigerated for up to 1 day ahead.)
At cooking time, place the loaf, still covered, in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil covering the loaf and bake for another 30 minutes, or until crusty on top and cooked inside.
Cool the loaf for a few minutes before cutting into chunks and serving. Enjoy!
To see how it’s done, go to www.surlatable.com/jacquespepin.
