Have you ever contemplated what to do with all the left over prawn shells you have after preparing your seafood dishes? Well look no further this delicious recipe puts all those shells to such good use! It is a luxurious seafood soup that is quite rich in flavour the perfect meal to make for formal entertaining and it is surprisingly low in calories!

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

Recipe type: Bisque, Soup, Main, Starter, Entree

Serves: 6 as a starter

Ingredients

• 500g prawn shells and heads
• 5 litres chicken/fish stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
• 2 pieces of lemon peel (yellow part only)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup cream
• salt & pepper to taste
• juice of ½ lemon
• 5 tablespoons flour mixed with ½ cup water
• Fresh parsley, chopped, to serve

Instructions

• Place the prawn shells and heads in a pot and add the stock, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, lemon peel and garlic. Bring up to a boil and allow to simmer for 30 minutes, covered until the stock is well infused by the shells.
• In a separate pot, melt a little butter and fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds before adding the smoked paprika, tomato paste and sugar.
• Allow to fry for 30 seconds then pour in the prawn stock with the shells and heads.
• Allow to simmer for 20 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• When the stock has cooled down, blend, the shells until they are broken up completely. Pass the mixture through a sieve into a bowl and then through a sieve lined with muslin once more into a clean pot. This is to make sure there is no grit or sediment in the bisque
• Place the pot over a low heat and allow to come back up to heat. Pour in the cream. If the soup seems too thin at this stage (which it probably will be), whisk in the flour paste and allow to simmer gently for 10 minutes until the soup has thickened slightly. You don’t want it to be too thick, it needs to be very ‘soupy’ still but also not watery.
• Season to taste and serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

This homemade food recipe is easy and definitely worth the effort. See our student’s prawn bisque creation below. If you love this recipe and would love to learn more about the world of Culinary Arts, we have a cooking and baking school in Johannesburg you might be interested in.

(source: http://simply-delicious-food.com/easy-peasy-prawn-bisque/http://www.mattawamum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/bisque.jpg,