Serves: 4
Or rather, how to pimp a tin of lobster bisque. Using tinned soup as a sort of ready-made stock is a great way of adding lots of flavour with the least amount of effort. This is a perfect weekday supper soup: there is just enough cooking involved to make one feel worthy (as opposed to remove packaging and pierce film) but not so much that it is a fiddle. Supper on the table in just over half an hour. All that is required is some good bread to serve with the chowder. If you can’t find crayfish meat use prawns or indeed lobster meat if it’s payday.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sunflower or rapeseed oil
- 4 corn on the cobs
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 300ml vegetable stock (from a cube is fine)
- 400g tin lobster bisque
- 240g crayfish tails
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Method
- Place the onion and celery in a large saucepan and add the oil and a good pinch of salt. Sauté over a moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes to soften the vegetables.
- Stand each cob on its end and cut down the sides with a sharp knife to remove the kernels. Add the kernels to the saucepan along with the smoked paprika. Cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Pour in the lobster bisque and stir well. Take off the heat and either purée the chowder in a liquidiser or with a stick blender. Pour the chowder back into the pan and add the crayfish. You can let down the chowder with a little more stock if it is very thick. Warm through but don’t let it boil. Sprinkle over the parsley just before serving.
