Seafood stew is comforting, familiar

992 Virginia Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-873-5430. latavolatrattoria.com

La Tavola in Virginia-Highland has the best seafood stew I’ve ever tasted, Zuppa di Pesce, that is served with grilled bread. I hope they will share their recipe with you! — Vicky Murphy, Tallahassee

La Tavola’s executive chef Jonathan Beatty sent us this recipe and told us, “Zuppa di Pesce is one of those quintessential true Italian dishes from the southern region of Italy, more specifically the Amalfi coast near Naples. Using the entirety of all the ingredients is part of what makes it so authentically Italian and special. Any vegetable or seafood trimmings, bodies or shells you have all go into making the broth that then cooks all of the same seafood and vegetables. When you have a food cycle like that the dish is going to be great no matter what. It’s been on the menu for so long because it is something that is comforting and familiar, yet also delicious and very indicative of how the Italian culture views food and its connection with ingredients.”

Start planning your soup by gathering the seafood, then peeling the shrimp and trimming the fish, then turning those “scraps” into the base for the delicious seafood stock. If you have any stock leftover after making this dish, it’s exactly the right base for a delicious seafood chowder. Beatty says you can use any firm textured fish in the soup.

Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail. com and put “From the menu of ” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.