Serves: 6
Total Calories: 175

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion
1 rib celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
pinch of crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
1 live lobster (1 to 2 pound)
2 whole fish (about 1 1/2 pounds each) such as pory, stripped bass, red snapper fillets, or sea bass, cleaned and cut into chunks (remove and reserve the heads)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 pound tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 pound calamari - squid, cleaned and cut into 1-inch rings
slice of Italian bread, toasted

1 Pour the oil into a large pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, parsley, pepper, and bay leaf. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender and golden, about 10 minutes.

2 Place the lobster on a cutting board with the cavity facing up. Do not remove the bands that keep the claws shut. Protect your hand with a heavy towel or pot holder and hold the lobster above the tail. Plunge the tip of a heavy chef's knife into the body where the tail joins the chest. Use poultry shears to remove the thin shell that covers the tail meat. Remove the dark vein in the tail, but leave the green tomalley and red coral, if any. Set the tail aside. Cut the lobster body and claws at the joints into 1- to 2-inch chunks. Smack the claws with the blunt side of the knife to crack them.

3 Add the lobster chest cavity and the reserved fish heads and trimmings to the pot. Cook 10 minutes. Add the wine and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and 4 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook 30 minutes.

4 With a slotted spoon, remove the lobster cavity and fish heads and bay leaf from the pot and discard. Pass the remaining ingredients through a food mill into a large bowl.

5 Rinse out the pot and pour in the soup. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the seafood that needs the longest cooking, such as the calamari. Cook until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the lobster tail and claws and fish chunks. Cook until the lobster and fish are opaque inside, about 10 minutes more.

6 Place slices of toasted bread in each soup bowl. Ladle the soup over the bread and serve hot.

From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 6
Total Calories: 175
Calories from Fat: 92

More Recipes from the Cook'n in Italy Cookbook:
* Soups
Antonietta’s Bean Soup
Bean and Mushroom Soup
Bread Noodles in Broth
Chicken Broth
Chickpea Soup from Puglia
Chickpea and Pasta Soup
Chunky Fish Soup
Cooked Water Soup
Creamy Bean Soup
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
Creamy Fennel Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup
Egg Crepes in Broth
Egg Soup from Pavia
Escarole and Little Meatballs Soup
Fontina, Bread, and Cabbage Soup
Friulian Barley and Bean Soup
Green Bean and Sausage Soup
Leek, Tomato, and Bread Soup
Lentil and Fennel Soup
Lentil and Greens Soup
Ligurian Chickpea and Porcini Soup
Married Soup
Meat Broth
Milan-Style Pasta and Beans
Mushroom and Potato Soup
Mussels and Clams in Tomato Broth
Pasta and Beans
Pureed Lentil Soup with Croutons
Red Pepper Soup
Roman Egg Drop Soup
Seafood, Pasta, and Bean Soup
Semolina Fritters in Broth
Sicilian Tomato Barley Soup
Spinach, Lentil, and Rice Soup
Tuscan Bread and Vegetable Soup
Tuscan Fish Soup
Tyrolean Bread Dumplings
Vegetable Soup with Pesto
Winter Squash Soup
Zucchini Pesto Soup
Zucchini and Potato Soup
Zucchini and Tomato Soup