chop-PEE-no

I've been daydreaming about this soup since T's godmother made it for us during Lent.  Every time I'd head to the store with the intention of purchasing the ingredients, I'd be discouraged by the price tag.  This past weekend I decided that we needed something a little special to get us out of our (actually my) food rut, so I splurged on scallops and shrimp.  Wegman's had some large bags of each at decent prices, so we have plenty for another batch.  Yum.  After following Giada's recipe with minimal tinkering, I decided that the following is an even better version.

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 large bulbs of fennel, sliced
4 shallots, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
4-5 garlic cloves, crushed
sprinkle of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups white wine
water
salt
3 cans of clams with juice
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound of uncooked scallops

Sauté fennel, shallots, and onion in olive oil for 5-10 minutes.  Add crushed garlic, tomato paste, and red pepper and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.  Add tomatoes, wine, juice of canned clams, water (I added a cup at a time until it looked right to me), and salt to taste.  Bring to boil and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for a half hour.  Add clams and scallops.  Cook for one minute further before adding shrimp.  Turn off heat, and serve when shrimp and scallops are thoroughly cooked, being careful not to overcook the shrimp.

A couple of notes:

I went easy on the red pepper flakes so my most sensitive children could enjoy the soup.  My husband and I add extra to taste.

Z requested that I use an immersion blender to disguise all of the veggies.  I didn't, but if I had, I would have done it before I added the clams.

We didn't add fish(totally forgot), but that's also a possibility during fasting periods that allow fish.