Brodetto all'anconetana

Step 1: Check the shellfish before you start: tap any open 1 ⅛ lb live mussels or 1 ⅛ lb live clams on the worktop and throw away any that stay open, along with any with cracked or broken shells. They are dead and not safe to eat.

Step 2: Warm ½ cup olive oil in a very wide, shallow pot over a medium heat. Add 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves and ½ tsp dried chilli flakes and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.

Step 3: Add 14 oz cleaned cuttlefish or squid and cook, stirring, until it turns opaque white and starts to colour slightly.

Step 4: Pour in ¼ cup white wine vinegar and let it bubble hard until the sharp smell softens.

Step 5: Add 14 oz tinned chopped tomatoes, 1 cup water, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper and simmer gently until the cuttlefish is tender when pierced and the sauce has thickened a little.

Step 6: Lay 1 ¾ lb firm fish on the bone in the sauce in a single layer, then 14 oz delicate white fish fillets on top. Spoon a little sauce over, cover and cook over a low heat. Don't stir: that's the usual reason brodetto turns into a mushy fish soup. Shake the pot gently instead.

Step 7: Tuck 1 ⅛ lb live mussels, 1 ⅛ lb live clams and 6 raw prawns in their shells in among the fish, cover again and cook until the shells open, the prawns are pink right through and the fish is opaque and flakes easily.

Step 8: Throw away any mussels or clams that have stayed shut. Taste the sauce for salt.

Step 9: Put 6 country bread in warm bowls and spoon the fish and plenty of sauce over, scattered with parsley.