Irish Scallop Bisque
Luxurious flavors abound in this creamy bisque! It's perfect as an elegant starter course, or a light main course with bread and a salad...
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 stalks celery - cut in large chunks (not chopped)
- 2 medium carrots - diced
- 1 large potato - diced, preferably Russet
- 1 medium yellow onion - chopped
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 cup dry white wine - (see notes)
- 1 qt pack seafood stock - approximately 1L (see notes)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme leaves - or 1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
- 1 cup half and half
- 8 large sea scallops
- vegetable or refined coconut oil - high smoke point
- salt and pepper
- chopped chives
Instructions
- Chop the onion, carrot, and potato fairly small (1/2" dice) to get them tender fairly quickly. Leave the celery in large pieces.
- In a large saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter and sauté over medium heat the onion, carrots, celery and potato. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dry white wine or sherry and continue to cook for another 5 minutes (alcohol will evaporate).
- Stir in tomato paste, then add seafood stock, bay leaves and thyme. Cover and gently simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Remove bay leaves, and celery pieces (if they're large). I prefer an immersion blender to pouring hot liquid into a blender. Blend until very smooth. If you added chopped celery as I accidentally did on photo day, you may want to pour through a strainer. Be careful!
- Once the soup base is smooth, add the half n' half or creamer, and gently reheat. Stir frequently. DO NOT BOIL!
- Sear the scallops on a hot pan with a bit of vegetable or refined coconut oil.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with desired number of scallops, and garnish with herbs.
Notes
If serving this bisque as a starter course, 1 large scallop per person is plenty.
I frequently have seafood stock in my freezer, and I would use it if so. However, commercially prepared seafood stock is now widely available, and quite delicious.
NOTE: If you're pressed for time, don't add chopped celery (as I did on photo day) in with the vegetables. Put the celery into the pot in large pieces. You can then remove them rather than straining the soup at the end. On photo day I diced the celery and had to work harder at getting the creamy texture I was after. I ended up pouring my soup base through a fine mesh sieve.
Don't use a white wine you wouldn't drink, but don't use something expensive. I substituted 1/2 cup sherry (and I actually prefer it) because all I had in the wine rack was an expensive French Pouilly Fuisse.
I don't always handle dairy well, and I have on occasion substituted So Delicious Coconut Creamer (no it doesn't taste like coconut).
This recipe was adapted from Saveur Magazine, Issue #5.
Nutrition
Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 19g
NOTE: Macronutrients are an approximation only using unbranded ingredients and MyFitnessPal.com. Please do your own research with the products you’re using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and/or star rating! Email us with any questions: tamara@beyondmeresustenance.com