Prawn Bisque

I served this yummy bisque for my husband's birthday and it was a success! The beauty of this recipe is that nothing is wasted and the results are delicious.

Ingredients

Allow 3 or 4 large prawns per person. (I used pre-cooked)
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot
1 leek (white bits only)
1 pint fish stock (I didn't have any, so used a chicken stock cube!)
2 glasses of dry white wine
4 heaped tbspoons of double cream
1 or 2 tbspoons of sweet paprika (you may add more later, for colour)
salt and pepper to taste

Cooking

Remove heads and shells of prawns, leaving the tail. Place all the debris in the pan, together with the chopped carrot and leek, the garlic and all the rest. Adjust the quantity of water according to the number of guests. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing to extract all the juices. Return to pan, add the cream (you can vary the quantity for thickness and colour, as you wish), heat gently, taste, adjust seasoning and serve with French bread.

Presentation

I seasoned the prawns with lemon, pepper, garlic, parsley and olive oil after I finished beheading and shelling them, then hooked them to the rim of the soup bowls. A sprig of dill or parsley completes the presentation.

Voilà!

My friend posted a photo of our group with the prawn bisque on Facebook. It doesn't look as glamorous as the one from the recipe book, but hey, it was nice enough...