Author Notes
I first made this last Christmas for the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes, and it was a big hit. Because we had so much food, I only did a small glass for each person and everyone wanted seconds. I have a fondness for bisque from when I was a kid and it's still just so delicious...creamy, briny, and a lovely start to a wonderful meal. Perfect with some nice crispy toasted bread for lunch as well. The sherry gives it a lovely sweetness, and it doesn't even need any cream to make it feel rich (although you can definitely add some!). —Meatballs&Milkshakes
Ingredients
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3/4 pound
shrimp (with shells or use fish stock replacing water)
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2
leeks, minced
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3
garlic cloves, minced
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1/2 cup
white wine
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1/2 cup
Pedro Ximenez Sherry
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2 tablespoons
flour
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3 tablespoons
butter
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2 cups
water
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2 tablespoons
tomato paste
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2 tablespoons
cream (optional)
Directions
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Clean the shrimp and put the shells in a saucepan with the water. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, until the water picks up some color and gets cloudy. Strain through a sieve. Optional, you can also substitute fish stock for this step.
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Saute the leeks and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until they start to develop some color on the first side and flip, about 2 minutes. Cook on the second side for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and let it rust a little, about 1 minute.
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Add the flour and butter and stir to combine. Deglaze the pan with the wine and sherry. Add the shrimp stock (or fish stock) and cook for a couple minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend it so that it’s smooth but with some little chunks– you want to know you’re eating shrimp. Add the cream if you wish, and stir together.
I'm an ex-finance, nonprofit fundraiser by day and a (mostly) Italian cook and blogger by night. I love having friends over for dinner and my favorite evenings are when we spend them at home together cooking dinner and chatting. I'm an avid cooking show fan, and my favorite eating cities are New York, San Francisco, Paris, and Rome.
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