Cheapo Cioppino for Summer

There is a lot going on here. Magically, all these ingredients play together in a soup symphony. Tangy and light.

1 cup of chopped baby carrots
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped onion
4-5 cloves garlic diced
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
1 fennel bulb chopped
1/2 head cabbage, chiffonade
1 lb. andouille sausage, halved and sliced into medallions
1 lb. bulk sausage, hot or italian

Brown each of the above and set aside. It took me about one hour to get everything to the al dente soft level I wanted. We're cooking all the stuff first, then throwing together with a very short time simmering.

Add 1 can pinto beans, 1 can great northern beans, rinsed
2 bottles of Clamato brand tomato cocktail
1 can of consomme
about 3-4 inches of anchovy paste
few dashes fish sauce
2 teaspoon shrimp powder
1 teaspoon shrimp chili paste
few dashes Worcestershire sauce
3 star anise
1 bay leaf

We're looking for a briny seafood-tomato broth, so adjust to your taste. It sounds like a lot of fish stuff going in here, but then again, it's a gallon of soup. I know not everybody keeps fish sauce, shrimp powder, shrimp or anchovy paste in their arsenal, use what you have. Being Mumblegrits cheap, we're attempting to create a seafood broth without using a lot of actual seafood.

Add one cup of small shell pasta and bring all to a simmer for about 15 minutes until the pasta is done. Do not boil, we want to preserve the acidity of the soup.

Add 1 pound of medium shrimp. Cook for about 3 minutes until pink. Remove the shrimp and take off the shells, add the shrimp back in.

Add 2 cups of frozen beef and pork tortellini for a couple minutes.

Turn off the heat, and add fresh basil, mint and cilantro to taste, I used no other traditional seasoning like salt or pepper, there's plenty of flavor here already. It's pretty tangy, but I love extra tang, so added juice of one lime. Add more Clamato if needed to keep it brothy enough, and recheck seasoning.

Serve slightly warm, with crusty bread or croutons.

Makes 12 generous servings.