This soup is absolutely delicious. I encourage you to use only the best ingredients. Do NOT be tempted to use chicken stock, or vegetable stock, as it is not the same result. I saved my lobster shells, and made my own lobster stock, and froze it. It was the bomb in this soup. My lobster stock recipie is in my blog. Alternatively, you can ask your fishmonger if they have lobster stock. I used the fresh shrimp shells to enhance my lobster stock.
Ingredients:
2 oz uncured diced pancetta, or 3 slices uncooked bacon, diced
1 quart good lobster stock
1 lb unpeeled raw shrimp
fresh parsley
2 leeks, white and green parts only, washed well, and chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup cognac or brandy
1/4 cup sherry (not cooking sherry)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half, or 2% milk if you want to be healthier
1/3 cup tomato paste
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Peel and clean shrimp. Set shrimp aside. Place shrimp shells and lobster stock in a saucepan. Simmer on low for 15 miutes. Strain and reserve the stock..
Heat 2 tbsp good olive oil in a large pot. Add the pancetta, and brown, then remove and set aside. In the same pot, add the leeks and cook for 10 minutes on medium. Do not brown, you just want them to be soft. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.
Add the cayenne pepper and 3/4 of the shrimp, leaving some on the side for garnish. Saute for 3 minutes until barely pink.
Add the cognac and sherry and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the mixture in the pot to a food processor, and process until pureed well.
In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir together for 2 minutes on medium to cook the flour, stirring constantly. Add the half and half or the milk.
To the flour mixture, add the pureed shrimp mixture, the reserved stock, tomato paste, and salt and pepper. Heat on low. You do not want to boil the soup, as you will have a curdled nasty mess! Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.
Meanwhile, slice the reserved shrimp in half horizontally, so you have 2 flat shrimp halves for each.
Saute in a bit of unsalted butter until pink.
Serve the soup with the shrimp halves, a sprinkle of the reserved pancetta, and fresh parsley. Grind some fresh pepper over the top.
Don't skimp on the ingredients! This is a show stopper for a 1st course, and is well worth the effort!
It pays to Mise en Place here, and making this soup will be an easy task.