Italian Seafood Stew

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• ½-3/4 pound of shrimp
• 2-3 pounds of firm white fish (this can be cod, monkfish, scallops,halibut, or whatever is local to your area; in Italy this may be swordfish, shrimp, sea bass, mackerel, etc.)
• Clams/Mussels if you're having a hard time finding a variety of high quality white fish (optional)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon of saffron
• 1 tablespoon of red chilli flakes
• 1-2 cups of canned whole plum tomatoes
• 3 cups of fresh water (you can also substitute water with a quick broth made with saffron, parsley, herbs, and garlic quickly simmered for 20 minutes)
• 1 medium onion finely diced
• 2-3 carrots finely diced
• 12 ounces of clam juice
• 1 celery stalk finely diced
• 1 cup of white wine