SHELLFISH BISQUE

Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Serves 4-6

Hopefully you took my advice a few weeks back, if you cooked my roasted-shellfish dish, and saved shells. I always have a shellfish stock or a bisque like this in my freezer for soups and risottos – it’s great to get another dish out of pricey shellfish.

INGREDIENTS

– 1 tbsp vegetable oil – 500g shellfish shells – 1 small onion, chopped – 1 small leek, chopped – 4 garlic cloves,

chopped

– 1 tsp fennel seeds

– a few sprigs of thyme – 1 bay leaf

– 40g butter

– 2 tbsp tomato purée

– 3 tbsp flour

– 1 glass of white wine – 1.5 litres of fish stock, or use good-quality fish stock cubes – 100ml double cream – 50g white crabmeat,

to serve

METHOD

Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and fry the shells over a high heat for about five minutes, stirring every so often, until they begin to colour. Add the onion, leek, garlic, fennel seeds, thyme and bay leaf, and cook for another five 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 wine, then slowly add the stock, stirring to avoid lumps. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for an hour.

Drain the soup, shells and all, in a colander over a bowl, stirring the shells so 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 and bring to the boil. To serve, add the cream. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, and stir well. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with a little crabmeat.