Author Notes: We finally had a warm day here in the mountains, and for me springtime means seafood and grilling. So, I got a pound of some beautiful shrimp to throw on the grill to be eaten on a chopped Mexican salad, and then got to work on cooking the shells. Yes! You should be cooking with your shellfish shells! Crab, shrimp, and lobster shells are all extremely flavorful, and are excellent when used to make a luxurious bisque. This bisque tastes even creamier than it looks, but it doesn’t use any dairy, gluten, oil, or sugar, and it’s very easy to make. —Pretty Rustic
Serves: 8
Ingredients
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shells from 1 lb of shrimp
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2
quarts vegetable stock
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1/2
cup rice
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3
cloves of garlic
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1/2
reed of lemongrass
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2
tablespoons tomato pasta
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1
tablespoon Thai red curry paste
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8
ounces coconut milk
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salt to taste
Directions
- Start by peeling your shrimp, and if possible, get the ones with the heads on, since they’ll add more flavor. To learn how to peel shrimp, check out this article and video from Serious Eats. Then, place the shells on a silpat or piece of parchment on a pan, and bake in the oven at about 350 until they’ve turned opaque. This should take about 30 minutes.
- Next, gently boil the shells with the stock, rice, lemongrass, and garlic until the rice is very tender and the stock tastes fragrant, or about 40 minutes. Puree everything in a blender, and reserve.
- In the empty pot, add your tomato paste and curry paste on medium heat, and lightly brown before slowly whisking in the coconut milk. Now strain the puree mixture through a sieve into the pot, and continually push the ingredients through to extract the most liquid without getting the grainy shells bits.
- Whisk everything together in the pot, and bring back to a gentle boil. Serve with cilantro, and eat in the sun!
- See more pictures and more recipes here! http://www.prettyrusticlife.com/blog/2014/3/7/thai-shrimp-bisque
/e2d4dd05-9faa-4a86-a4dc-a3e09ea00104--bisque.jpg "Thai Shrimp Bisque 40")
