Name: Shellfish bisque
Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients: salt and freshly ground white pepper; 200 ml double cream; glass of white wine; 3 tbsp flour; 2 litres fish stock (or a good-quality fish stock cube dissolved in that amount of hot water); 2 tbsp tomato purée; 45 g butter; 1 small onion, roughly chopped; 1 kg shellfish trimmings, shells, etc.; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 bay leaf; 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 1 small fennel bulb, roughly chopped; a few sprigs of tarragon; 1 small leek, well rinsed, trimmed and roughly chopped

Preparation info

Serves
4-6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Fish etc.

By Mark Hix

Published 2004

About

Shellfish bisque can be made from all sorts of different shellfish, from small green crabs to spider crabs, langoustines, prawns, lobster, etc. You can cook the whole fish and use the flesh in salads, etc. but with this type of soup the flavour really comes from the shells. If I’m having shellfish at home I never throw the shells away; I freeze them as they are or make them into bisque or shellfish sauce for a rainy day. It can be quite costly just buying shellfish to make soup, so such eco