Name: Cacciucco alla livornese
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Cuisine: Italian, Livorno / Tuscany
Ingredients: 500 g cleaned cuttlefish, cut into large strips; 500 g cleaned octopus, cut into chunks; 500 g bony soup fish, such as gurnard or scorpionfish, cleaned; 750 ml water, for a quick fish broth from heads and bones; 300 g dogfish or another firm boneless fish, cut into large pieces; 500 g mussels and/or clams, scrubbed and debearded; 500 g mantis shrimp, prawns or small scampi, shell-on; 200 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, lightly crushed; 5 fresh sage leaves; 1 small dried chilli, or to taste; 200 ml dry white wine; 30 g tomato concentrate; 500 g passata or crushed tomatoes; 8 g fine sea salt, adjust after shellfish; 2 g black pepper; 15 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped; 6 thick slices rustic Tuscan-style bread; 1 garlic clove, halved for rubbing the toast

Cacciucco alla livornese: wide hero view of a thick red Livorno seafood stew crowded with mussels, prawns, octopus and mixed fish

Prep1 h

Cook1 h 30 min

Total2 h 30 min

Yield6 servings

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The dish

About Cacciucco alla livornese

Visit Tuscany describes Livorno cacciucco as a very thick, dark fish soup made from many kinds of fish and molluscs rather than refined luxury seafood. Garlic, chilli or pepper and sage form the aromatic base.

The stew is assembled by cooking time. Octopus and cuttlefish need the longest braise; firm fish follow; crustaceans and bivalves are added near the end so they remain intact and sweet.

A concentrated broth made from usable fish heads and bones adds body without requiring flour. Tomato concentrate and wine deepen the sauce, but the finished consistency should still taste primarily of the mixed catch.

Traditional cacciucco is flexible because it historically followed the day’s catch. The listed species are therefore a practical home structure, not a claim that one exact shopping list defines every Livorno pot.

Toasted bread rubbed with raw garlic is not a side garnish: it is placed in the bowl and absorbs the dense broth, becoming part of the dish’s texture.

Technique

Three things that matter

Add seafood in stages. A single cooking time would make octopus tough or delicate shellfish rubbery.
Build body from fish and broth. The sauce should become thick from the catch, tomato and reduction rather than from flour.
Serve over garlic toast. The bread is a structural part of Livorno cacciucco, not optional decoration.

Cook the dish

Ingredients

Everything needed to prepare the dish, arranged for fast scanning before cooking.

Long-cooking seafood and broth

500 gcleaned cuttlefishcut into large strips
500 gcleaned octopuscut into chunks
500 gbony soup fishsuch as gurnard or scorpionfish, cleaned
750 mlwaterfor a quick fish broth from heads and bones

Remaining seafood

300 gdogfish or another firm boneless fishcut into large pieces
500 gmussels and/or clamsscrubbed and debearded
500 gmantis shrimp, prawns or small scampishell-on

Aromatic tomato base

200 mlextra-virgin olive oil
3garlic cloveslightly crushed
5fresh sage leaves
1small dried chillior to taste
200 mldry white wine
30 gtomato concentrate
500 gpassata or crushed tomatoes
8 gfine sea saltadjust after shellfish
2 gblack pepper
15 gflat-leaf parsleychopped

Garlic toast

6thick slices rustic Tuscan-style bread
1garlic clovehalved for rubbing the toast

Step by step

Method

Prepare the catch and quick broth

Clean and sort the seafood. Scrub bivalves, rinse fish and separate long-cooking octopus/cuttlefish from firm fish and quick-cooking shellfish.
Broken bivalve shells and any shellfish that remain open when tapped before cooking should be discarded.
Make a concentrated fish broth. Simmer usable fish heads and bones with 750 ml water for 25–30 minutes, skimming as needed. Strain and keep hot.
The broth should taste marine and clean, not bitter from overcooked gills or viscera.

Build the slow base

Sweat garlic, sage and chilli. Heat about 120 ml olive oil in the casserole. Add garlic, sage and chilli and cook gently until fragrant without burning.
Garlic should stay pale gold.
Braise cuttlefish and octopus. Add cuttlefish and octopus and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring, until they release moisture and begin to firm. Add wine and let the alcohol aroma evaporate.
The pan should return to a steady simmer after the wine reduces.
Add tomato and simmer. Stir in tomato concentrate and passata. Add enough hot fish broth to keep the seafood partly submerged and simmer gently about 35 minutes.
Octopus should be approaching tenderness before the firm fish is added.

Finish with fish and shellfish

Add firm fish. Nestle dogfish and bony soup-fish pieces into the sauce and simmer about 15 minutes, turning as little as possible.
Fish should become opaque while large pieces remain intact.
Add crustaceans and bivalves. Add prawns or mantis shrimp, mussels and clams. Cover and cook 6–8 minutes, just until crustaceans are cooked and bivalves open.
Discard any bivalves that stay closed after cooking.
Adjust the stew. Add a little broth if too tight, or simmer uncovered briefly if loose. Taste only now for salt and pepper because shellfish liquor can be highly saline.
The sauce should be thick enough to coat fish and soak bread rather than run like a clear soup.

Prepare the Livorno-style bowls

Toast and garlic the bread. Toast the bread until dry at the surface, then rub one side lightly with the cut garlic clove.
The toast should remain sturdy enough to absorb sauce without instantly dissolving.
Serve the cacciucco. Place garlic toast in warm bowls and ladle over a balanced mix of fish, molluscs, shellfish and sauce. Finish with parsley and the remaining olive oil.
Each serving should include both broth-soaked bread and several textures of seafood.

Practical guidance

Fish substitutions

Use what is fresh and suited to stew, maintaining the hierarchy of long-cooking cephalopods, firm fish, then quick shellfish. Avoid expensive delicate fillets that disintegrate.

Tomato level

Visit Tuscany examples vary in tomato intensity. The sauce should be dark and thick but still taste of seafood rather than becoming generic tomato soup.

Wine

White and red wine both appear in documented Livorno versions. This version uses dry white wine for a cleaner home profile.

Bread

Unsalted Tuscan bread is historically natural here, but any sturdy country loaf can work if toasted firmly and rubbed with garlic.

Troubleshooting

The octopus is tough. It needs more gentle cooking before delicate seafood is added; remove quick-cooking pieces and continue the base if necessary.
The fish falls apart. The pot was stirred too aggressively or delicate fish went in too early.
The stew is watery. The fish broth was added too generously or the final sauce was not reduced uncovered.
The stew is too salty. Shellfish liquor concentrated the sauce; delay final salt adjustment until all bivalves have opened.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size: 1 large bowl with garlic toast
Calories: approximately 780 kcal
Carbohydrates: 38 g
Protein: 78 g
Fat: 32 g
Fibre: 4 g
Sodium: approximately 1450 mg

Seafood species and shellfish salinity vary substantially, so nutrition is an estimate.

Allergens and food safety

Contains fish, crustaceans, molluscs and wheat/gluten.

Keep raw seafood cold until cooking, prevent raw juices from contacting ready-to-eat bread, and cook seafood promptly after preparation.

Discard bivalves with broken shells, those that do not close when tapped before cooking, and those that remain closed after cooking.

FAQ

Does cacciucco require exactly five kinds of fish?

No single modern shopping list defines every pot; the Livorno tradition relies on a mixture of fish and molluscs, historically shaped by the available catch.

Why is the bread rubbed with garlic?

Garlic toast is placed under the stew so it absorbs the concentrated broth while contributing a sharp aromatic note.

Can frozen seafood be used?

High-quality frozen octopus, cuttlefish or firm fish can be practical, but bivalves should be handled according to their package instructions and freshness status.

Final note

What matters most

Result: A dark, concentrated Livorno stew in which tender octopus, fish and shellfish sit in a peppery tomato-seafood sauce over garlic-soaked toast.
Key: Sequence the seafood by cooking time and let the mixed catch, not flour, create the body of the stew.