The fish soup of Romano, a cult name of the restaurant in Versilia and Tuscany

#ilgustoprimaditutto, this is the motto of chef Nicola Gronchi, who exclusively gives us his recipe

It is Nicola Gronchi, born in 1984, from Carrara, the new chef of Romano, historic address of the haute cuisine viareggina, 1 Michelin Star, for over 50 years symbol of Italian seafood cuisine.

Romano, in the heart of an Art Nouveau Viareggio, is a restaurant that has made the freshest fish and tradition two pillars on which to build a unique catering path, born from the boundless passion of Romano and Franca, stainless couple in life and work.

In the dining room and in the wine cellar, large enough for their son Roberto, a presence of great professional depth.

The recipe for fish soup:

Ingredients:
1 scorpion fish, 1 draught fish, 1 pigfish, 4 cicadas, 2 small octopuses, 4 scampi, 4 sparnocchi, 8 mussels, 4 green asparagus, 4 ribbed tomatoes, 4 slices of Tuscan bread, parsley, basil, garlic, marjoram, thyme, white wine vinegar.
Procedure:

Rinse the meatballs and divide them into four, clean the asparagus, wash and cut them, keeping only the green tips. Rinse the mussels under running water, using the back of a small knife remove all external impurities and tear off the beard. Peel off the scampi and raw spaghetti, remove the intestinal thread leaving them whole with the head attached. Wash the cicadas, then using scissors remove the portion of the dorsal shell that protrudes slightly along the side of the crustacean, also cut the tail, gently lift the dorsal shell from the tail to the head.

In this way all the flesh will remain in the open. Clean, gut, scale and fillet the fish carefully, keeping the heads and bones aside and purging them under running water. Toast them in a saucepan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a clove of garlic. Once toasted wet with half a glass of white wine vinegar, let it fade and add the tomatoes cut into four, the aromatic herbs and a litre of cold water. Cook for 25 minutes then filter and reduce by half.

Place all the filleted fish, crustaceans, meatballs and mussels in a glass baking dish or in an earthenware bowl, adding the filtered soup and the asparagus tips cut in two. 

Cook everything in a ventilated oven for 10 minutes at 160 degrees. The soup is ready add fresh parsley, toasted Tuscan bread and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.