- ½ fennel bulb
- 1 medium red onion
- 2 carrots
- 2 parsnips
- 1 red pepper
- 2 stalks celery
- 6 slices of bacon chopped in small pieces
- 3 ounces of chopped chorizo sausage
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large shallot finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ¾ cup white wine
- 3 cups tomato juice
- 3 cups fish stock (or chicken stock if you prefer)
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 2 tsp marjoram
- Salt and pepper to season
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds of seafood of your choice, cut into bite sized pieces
- 3 chopped Roma tomatoes
Chop vegetables (fennel, onion, carrots, parsnips, red pepper and celery) into bite-sized pieces. Toss the vegetables in 3 tbsp olive oil, season in salt and pepper and bake in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes at 375° F or until the vegetables are slightly browned and fork tender. Turn the vegetables once during cooking.
In a sauté pan, cook to crisp the bacon, add chorizo near the end. Drain off the fat and deglaze the pan with some of the soup stock and add to the soup pot when adding the bacon and sausage.
In a large pot sauté garlic and shallot in olive oil. Add wine, boil gently until reduce to about half the volume. Add the roasted vegetables along with previously cooked bacon and sausage. Add rest of the ingredients (except for the seafood and Roma tomatoes). Simmer very gently for 20-30 minutes before adding seafood and Roma tomatoes. Simmer gently for another 5-10 minutes until the seafood is done.
Any combination of shrimp, salmon, halibut, cod, mussels, clams all work well. Remove bay leaf. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh chopped Italian parsley or dill. Personally, if I am adding shrimp and scallops, I prefer to pan sear these separately and add them to the chowder bowls when serving.