The feast of the seven fishes is a traditional Italian-American meal that's enjoyed on Christmas Eve and features seven different fish courses. Since cooking seven fish dishes for one meal is a lot of work, I recommend making a dinner that's inspired by the custom, but with half the amount of fish. With its white fish, shrimp, and Dungeness crab, this oven-baked cioppino recipe is perfect.
Unlike most seafood stews, which are thrown together just before serving, this version requires the fish to sit in the sauce overnight. Because the raw shrimp and whitefish are bathed in the rich tomato sauce, the resulting dish is wildly flavorful and the seafood is succulent and plump. It's wonderful for holiday entertaining because the night of a dinner party, the only thing you have to do is toss it in the oven. Seriously, this cioppino is a must make, so learn the technique.
