FLORIDA KEYS CHOWDER

Steps:

• 1. You will need a 6 qt pot. With your food processor mince the following one at a time: The onion, the garlic, the green pepper, the red pepper and the carrots. You can mince your carrots less than the other ingredients if you like chunks of carrots in your soup.
• 2. Over medium heat, add the olive oil to your pot. Add the onions, carrots, red pepper, green pepper and garlic. Saute the veggies for about 8 minutes.
• 3. Add the tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes to the veggies. Turn stove to Low medium heat.
• 4. In a measuring cup, add the tomato paste to the cold water. Mix until tomato paste is diluted. Add to veggies and tomatoes in pot.
• 5. While these are all simmering together, add the salt, pepper,oregano, garlic powder, sugar and cayenne pepper.
• 6. If you are using Conch, make sure it is thawed out. Place the conch in a zip lock bag and hammer away at it, making it about 1/4 inch thick or less. You want to flatten it so that it starts to tear about. Place Conch in food processor and pulse for about 6 seconds, you want to still have lumpy pieces of conch but most of it should be minced. I take 1/2 of my conch and mince it really fine and the other half I mince less.
• 7. Cut your Shrimp into 4 pieces sideways, to make small chunks of shrimp.
• 8. If you are using any other sea food, such as lobster, or any white fish, cut them into small bite size pieces.
• 9. Add the uncooked sea food of your choice to the soup. Most of the time, I make mine with Conch and Shrimp. When I add Lobster It adds a more fish taste to it, so keep in mind that the lobster and fish will be more fishy tasting, but Oh so Good!!
• 10. Turn your heat to simmer, let the soup simmer covered, for about 2 hours (mixing and tasting so that you may add more salt and pepper and garlic to your liking) until all of the veggies are cooked through. The sea food will cook fairly fast, but not to worry all of the ingredients in the soup will not make the seafood chewy.
• 11. 30 Minutes before serving time, take the lid off the pot and let the soup thicken up a bit.. Throw some soup cracker over the top of the soup bowls and enjoy!!