Cioppino on the Traeger

In partnership with Safeway

With the cold winter months upon us, this recipe for Cioppino on the Traeger results in the ultimate bowl of comfort food. A fisherman’s stew comprised of clams, shrimp, scallops, lobster, crab and fish– it’s rich, full of flavor and comes together very quickly. With the help of the Safeway app, this recipe for a rich and hearty cioppino on the Traeger will be a new staple in your winter rotation.

FISHERMAN’S STEW ON THE TRAEGER

Cioppino is a rich Italian fisherman’s stew made with a variety of seafood in a tomato and wine broth. Laden with mounds of succulent seafood, it’s hearty and comforting and a great dish to serve in the wintertime. And while seafood in Colorado may sounds like a challenge, we are lucky that our local Safeway grocery stores stock an impressive seafood counter where we can pick up all the ingredients for a cioppino made on the Traeger.

START WITH A FLAVORFUL BROTH

For our variation on cioppino cooked on the Traeger, we sought to keep our broth simple, flavorful and traditional.

In a big cast iron dutch oven, we cooked shalllot and chopped garlic in butter until translucent and golden. Half of a chopped serrano was added and quickly sautéed. Then we added a can of diced tomatoes (with some of the juice drained off), a cup or more of clam juice and a bunch of chicken broth. A little fresh thyme was added before pouring in a good amount of dry white wine, like Safeway’s O Organics brand California Chardonnay.

Cook all of these ingredients on high for 3-5 minutes until well incorporated and the tomatoes begin to break down. Season to taste with salt and pepper and adjust the liquid quantities as necessary to ensure you have adequate liquid in which to steam your clams, shrimp and crab.

WHAT TYPE OF SEAFOOD TO ADD TO CIOPPINO

For this recipe, we tried to keep it somewhat traditional while taking advantage of the tremendous variety of seafood (both fresh and frozen) available at the Safeway seafood counter.

An absolute must for cioppino is littleneck clams. Without question you should pick up 1-2 pounds of fresh littlenecks, which are sold on ice in a mesh bag. Keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to use.

Additionally, shrimp is a classic ingredient in cioppino and for this Traeger cooked version we went with jumbo shrimp that clocked in at 10-15 per pound.

A piece of fish is traditionally added to cioppino when serving and we got a piece of Alaskan cod from the Safeway seafood counter. See below for information on how to cook it.

In addition, we added a pound of scallops, a cluster of Dungess crab legs and a whole lobster tail to our cioppino on the Traeger.

OTHER INGREDIENTS FOR VARIATION

For other variations, you could consider adding things like:

• Fresh mussels
• Calamari/squid
• Other crab legs- like snow or king crab
• Bay scallops (much smaller than sea scallops)
• Oysters
• Octopus
• Chorizo or sausage for a heartier broth
• Leeks
• Fennel

DIFFERENT METHODS OF COOKING THE SEAFOOD

While cioppino is traditionally made as a stew of ingredients, we find that making an assembled final dish provides better results and more appropriate cooking for each of the components. So rather than dump all the seafood into the broth and cook until the last thing is cooked through, we pieced out the cooking of various ingredients to ensure the perfect results.

In addition, by doing this we can put together each final bowl of cioppino cooked on the Traeger so it looks beautiful and appealing with the right balance of ingredients in each serving. As a result, here are some recommendations on how to cook the seafood we picked up from our local Safeway store.

STEAMED

To the rich and flavorful tomato broth that we created, we added the littleneck clams (whole and uncooked) and allowed them to steam in the broth for about 5 minutes.

Once they started beginning to open, we added our shelled and deveined shrimp to the pot, allowing those to steam and poach in the flavorful broth.

Just before serving, we nestled the Dungess crab leg cluster in the pot, then covered it, to bring the crab up to a warm temperature. Because that element came pre-cooked, all we wanted to do was get it hot throughout while the clams and shrimp finished cooking.

SEARED ON THE FLATROCK

For the rest of the seafood ingredients, we used our Traeger Flatrock Griddle to cook the elements to perfect doneness. Each type of seafood cooks differently, so we wanted to do all we could to ensure perfect finish temperatures and delicious and accurate finish cook temperatures which ensures moist and tender seafood.

The fish fillet was seasoned lightly and griddled on the Flatrock with a bit of oil. We wanted the fish cooked throughout and nearly flaky, knowing that it would cook a few degrees more once submerged in the cioppino broth.

The scallops were patted dry and then seasoned with salt and pepper before grilling on the Flatrock too. Scallops on the Traeger griddle will develop a beautiful golden brown crust on both sides and become just opaque when cooked through. Again, they will cook a bit more once in the hot broth.

And finally, for the lobster tail, we cut it down the middle with a sharp knife, brushed it in butter and grilled the tail, cut side down, until cooked through.

All of this searing occurred while the broth was being made and the clams were steaming, ensuring that everything was done at just about the same time. Piping hot off the grill and ready to be plated.

BRING IT ALL TOGETHER

Once your rich and flavorful cioppino broth is ready, the seafood is steamed and the others are grilled, it’s time to assemble your finished plates. We used large shallow bowls for serving– which gave room for each of the unique seafood ingredients while making for a pretty look.

DON’T FORGET THE SOURDOUGH

And any good stew is best complemented by crunchy fresh bread. We picked up a loaf of sourdough baguette from Safeway, which had an incredible crust and a tender center. We sliced the baguette in half, brushed the cut side with mayonnaise and seasoned it lightly with a garlic/salt/pepper blend. The cut side of the bread was grilled on the Traeger Flatrock griddle until golden brown and warmed throughout.

Be sure to make plenty of grilled bread as it’s the perfect way to soak up the flavorful broth of your cioppino cooked on the Traeger.

SAFEWAY MAKES IT EASY

Grabbing the ingredients for this cioppino on the Traeger was insanely easy because it didn’t even involve going to the store! Rather, we logged into our Safeway app and built our shopping list on our phones. With a few clicks, we submitted our grocery order for delivery and knew we’d end up with a terrific assortment of fresh and flavorful seafood straight from the seafood counter.

With the Safeway Deals and Delivery App, we rested easy knowing that a personal shopper would select each of the ingredients we needed for this dish– from a loaf of sourdough to the bottle of wine– and it would all be safely delivered to our front porch the next day.

As a busy family of four with twin toddlers underfoot, getting all the ingredients we needed for this dish without leaving the house meant we could still have family and friends over for a nice winter meal without having to battle jackets and boots on unruly toddlers. It’s a win-win for us!

a quick and easy grocery order

Using the Safeway app, we put together the grocery order in quick fashion once my wife and I made the plan. With the impressively large variety of seafood offered at our local Safeway store, we knew we could put together an incredible cioppino without having to stray beyond our local grocery store.

Additionally, the Safeway app offers deals and discounts on ingredients you use everyday, and speciality things like seafood, making our big fancy dinner affordable too. And Safeway’s Waterfront Bistro brand of products (including frozen seafood and fish) makes eating good approachable and affordable.

A few clicks later, we had confirmation that our grocery order was accepted and we knew we’d have a personal shopper in the store selecting all the things we’d need for this delicious dish. 

all in one delivery

The DriveUp & Go service at Safeway means that I didn’t need to even stop at my Safeway store on the way home from work– the groceries ended up on our porch the next day.

PRIMARY INGREDIENTS

• Jumbo Raw Shrimp
• Lobster Tail
• Sea Scallops
• Seafood Service Counter Littleneck Clams
• Waterfront Bistro Alaskan Cod Fillet
• Dungess Crab Claw Cluster
• Garlic
• Shallot
• Lucerne Farms salted sweet cream butter
• Clam Juice
• Serrano peppers
• Signature Select Diced Tomatoes
• Signature Select Chicken Broth
• O Organics California Chardonnay
• Signature Select San Francisco Style Artisan Sourdough Baguette
• Parsley

WHY COOKING CIOPPINO ON THE TRAEGER WORKS 

Whipping together a big pot of flavorful and rich cioppino on the Traeger is as simple as it comes. With a few easy pantry ingredients and a variety of seafood fresh from the Safeway seafood service counter, you can have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes.

It’s a great recipe to feed a crowd and it is super customizable. Not only can you adjust the ingredients based on what is available at the time of your shopping, but you can do so to meet the desires of your diners for the meal. If scallops are not in favor, add more shrimp. Or include a half a lobster tail for each diner. Whatever your heart desires!

It’s super easy to cook this recipe for cioppino on the Traeger because of the built in induction burner on the Traeger Timberline XL grill. This burner allows you to cook everything– from soups and stews to fried food to candy making outdoors. The temperature is super-controllable, the cleanup is a breeze and who doesn’t love the novelty of cooking outdoors as much as possible?

We used out Traeger Flatrock griddle in this dish to perfectly cook multiple ingredients in our Cioppino on the Traeger. The result was tender and flaky fish, perfectly opaque scallops and lobster tails with a perfect buttery sear. And don’t forget the sourdough baguette with an unbelievable crust. All done on the Traeger and in under 30 minutes.

STEP-BY-STEP

• Preheat griddle to medium heat.
• On the induction burner, begin heating the cast iron pan to medium high.
• Peel and devein the shrimp.
• Melt the butter and add the shallots and garlic.
• Saute for about 5 minutes until soft and translucent.
• Stir in the sliced serranos and stir to combine.
• Then add the diced tomatoes and clam juice and bring to a boil.
• Allow the ingredients to cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in the wine and broth.
• Bring the sauce to a full boil and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
• Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.
• Do the same with the fish filet.
• Cut the lobster tail in half lengthwise and brush the cut sides with melted butter.
• Turn the heat on the pan down to medium (low rolling boil).
• Add the clams to the pan and cover the pot, allowing the clams to steam for 5 minutes.
• While the clams cook, grill the fish, scallops and lobster on the griddle.
• Slice the baguette in half lengthwise and slather the cut sides with mayonnaise and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Grill the bread, cut side down until golden brown.
• Add the shrimp to the pot and continue cooking for about 5 minutes until just cooked through.
• Add the crab claw cluster to the pot, and turn off the heat.
• When the fish, scallops and lobster are done cooking, assemble the bowls.
• In each bowl, add a portion of fish, some scallops and a lobster tail.
• Using a ladle, pour the stock over the bowl and add clams and shrimp to each bowl.
• Top with chopped parsley and serve your Cioppino hot off the Traeger with grilled bread.

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ALTERNATE RECIPES/PRODUCT LINKS

Here are some seafood recipes to try on your Traeger, too:

• Seafood dips
• Seafood charcuterie board
• Traeger roasted miso marinated cod
• Seared scallops with corn and chorizo sauce
• You can also try some of the seafood recipes in my cookbook, which you can pick up here!

Products used in this cook:

• Safeway Deals & Delivery App
• Safeway DriveUp & Go
• Traeger Timberline XL
• Traeger Flatrock Griddle

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