Bentley's shellfish bisque

Bentley's shellfish bisque

There are many reasons to visit the chic Petersham Hotel in Richmond, but best of all, is Alex Bentley's menu, including this clever twist on a classic

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 10 mins

Method

  1. Crush the shellfish shells in a food processor or put them in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin, the more you break them up the better. Tip them into a large hot pan with the olive oil and butter and cook for 10 minutes. Add the chopped celery, garlic, carrots, shallots, leek, fennel, orange, coriander, fennel seeds, herbs de Provence, ginger and lime leaves and fry until well browned with a strong shellfish aroma. Add 2/3 of the tomatoes and fry until the juices evaporate, add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the stock and bring back to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for 2 hours skimming off any scum that rises to the top.
  2. Pour everything through a sieve, pressing down on the shells and veg to extract the maximum flavour. Pour through a muslin cloth or fine sieve to make sure any fine bits of shell have been removed.
  3. Put the liquid back into the clean pan, taste and then boil until it has a good strong flavour but there is still enough for 4 shallow soup bowls. Add the brandy and boil for 1 minute. Add the cream and a squeeze of lemon and season.
  4. Put pieces of cooked shellfish into hot bowls along with some herbs and tomato pieces and pour over the hot bisque, we would do this at the table. (Petersham Hotel, Nightingale Lane, Richmond, Surrey, 020 8940 7471; petershamhotel.co.uk)

PER SERVING

556 kcalories, protein 35.6g, carbohydrate 9.9g, fat 37.6 g, saturated fat 13.6g, fibre 2.5g, salt 5.08 g

Recipe from olive magazine, May 2011.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 1 hr 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients

  • 2kg shellfish shells (crayfish, lobster, prawns, whatever you can get) , keep some of the cooked meat you extract for the bisque, use the rest for something else
  • 75ml olive oil , plus 75g butter
  • 1½ sticks celery , chopped
  • ½ head garlic , peeled and chopped
  • 2 carrots , peeled and chopped
  • 3 shallots , peeled and chopped
  • ½ leek , peeled and chopped
  • ½ fennel bulb , peeled and chopped
  • ½ orange , zested
  • ½ tbsp coriander seeds
  • ½ tbsp fennel seeds
  • ½ tbsp herbes de Provence
  • 75g ginger , sliced
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves
  • 6 tomatoes , seeds scooped out and chopped (save some for decoration)
  • 375ml bottle white wine
  • 750ml fish or chicken stock (or a mixture)
  • 1 tbsp brandy
  • 1 tbsp cream
  • ¼ lemon
  • pea shoots or watercress , to garnish
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

PER SERVING

556 kcalories, protein 35.6g, carbohydrate 9.9g, fat 37.6 g, saturated fat 13.6g, fibre 2.5g, salt 5.08 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close