Another versatile soup/sauce. In the restaurant we served with as an amuse bouche in espresso cups with a cocktail stick speared prawn.It's worth collecting shells whenever you have them and pop in the freezer until you have enough to make the bisque. Freeze the leftover prawns to use another timeI also use this recipe as a sauce for seafood spaghetti and salmon medallions. It will keep safely for a day in the fridge or freeze.
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Ingredients
- 80g unsalted butter
- 800 g raw prawns with heads and in their shells
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 fennel bulb chopped and fronds reserved
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 stick celery chopped
- 1 clove garlic sliced
- 6 peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs parsley
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 50 ml brandy
- 4 ripe tomatoes chopped
- pinch paprika
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 ltr fish stock
Equipment
- Blender
- fine mesh sieve
Instructions
- Remove the heads and shells from the prawns and reserve. Keep the 200g of prawn flesh for this recipe and freeze the rest for another day.
- In a large pan melt 40g of butter with 1 tbsp of oil, when the butter starts to froth, add the shells and cook on a medium high heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally until they turn orange and smell fragrant. It doesn't matter if bits stick to the pan.
- Turn the heat to low, drop in the remaining 40g of butter and 2 tbsp of oil. Add the onion, carrot, fennel and celery. Cook for 8-10 minutes, dropping the garlic in for the last 2 minutes. Keep stirring until all the vegetables are softened.
- Turn the heat back up to medium and add bay leaf, parsley and tomato puree. Cook for 1 minute stirring everything together then turn the heat to high and pour in brandy and bubble until evaporated. Add the tomatoes, paprika, cayenne pepper and fish stock. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes
- Remove the bay leaf and blend in batches for 2-3 minutes. Take the stopper out and hold a tea towel over the hole. This will help release the steam when you blend. Alternatively you can leave the soup to cool a little before you blend.
- Pass through a fine sieve pushing everything through and then pass again. Take your time with this stage working the mixture through the sieve.
- Tip the soup into a clean pan and add the prawns, cook for 10 minutes then blitz again until smooth.Add some cream to serve
Nutrition
Calories: 347kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 9gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 332mgPotassium: 647mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1803IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!