Shellfish bisque

Serves 4-6 

I’ve given you a generic shellfish bisque recipe which can be made with crab, lobster, Dublin bay prawns and local prawns.

I always have a shellfish stock or a bisque like this in my freezer for soups and risottos etc so great to get another dish out of pricey shellfish.

Ingredients

300 or so shellfish shells, broken into pieces

1tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small leek, trimmed and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1tsp fennel seeds

A few sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

40g butter

2tbsp tomato purée

3tbsp flour

1 glass of white wine

1.5 litres fish stock, or a couple of good fish-stock cubes in 1.5 litres of hot water hot water

100ml double cream

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Method

Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and fry the shells over a high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring every so often until they begin to colour. Add the onion, leek, garlic, fennel seeds, thyme and bay leaf, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, until the  vegetables begin to colour. Add the butter and stir well, then add the tomato purée and flour, stir well and cook for a minute or so over a low heat. Add the white wine, then slowly add the fish stock, stirring to avoid any lumps. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 1 hour.

Drain the soup, shells and all, in a colander over a bowl, stirring the shells so that any small pieces go into the liquid. Remove about one-third of the softer shells (not the very hard claw and main shell) and put them in with the liquid - discard the rest. Blend the shells and liquid in a liquidiser or strong food processor until smooth, then strain through a fine-meshed sieve.

Return to a clean pan, season with a little salt and pepper, if necessary, and bring to the boil. To serve add the cream, adjust the seasoning again, if necessary, and stir well.