Louisiana Crawfish Bisque

Courtesy Louisiana Seafood

Creamy crawfish bisque topped with white rice.
Cook/Prep Time: 4 HoursServings: 6

Ingredients

Reserved crawfish shells
6 ea Garlic, whole cloves
1 cup Onions, large dice
3/4 cup Celery, large dice
1/2 cup Green peppers, large dice
3/4 cup Tomatoes, large dice
1 ea Bay leaf
3 ea Thyme, fresh, whole sprigs
2 tsp Black peppercorn, whole
3 lb Louisiana Crawfish Tails, raw, peeled, shells reserved for stock
4 qt Crawfish stock*
1 cup White wine
1 1/4 lb Butter, unsalted
5 cups Flour
3 cups Onions, small dice
2 cups Celery, small dice
1 cup Green bell peppers, small dice
1 cup Red bell peppers, small dice
1/4 cup Garlic, minced
1 qt Tomato puree, canned
5 cups Heavy cream, divided
2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Cayenne
2 tsp Original TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce
6 sprigs Thyme, fresh
4 ea Bay leaves
2 cups Green onions, chopped
1 cup Parsley, chopped
Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste
6 cups White rice, cooked

Directions

To make crawfish stock, place crawfish shells in large stock pot and cover with water. Add garlic, onions, celery, green peppers, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns. Bring to simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Strain and cool until ready to use. Can be made 1 day in advance. Bring Louisiana Crawfish stock and white wine to a boil in a large sauce pot. Remove from heat and reserve.
Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly over heat until roux becomes light brown.
Add onions, celery, green and red bell peppers and garlic. Cook for 5-6 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Add tomato puree and stir to combine.
Add crawfish stock 1 quart at a time, whisking until soup is completely smooth before adding next quart of stock.
Once all stock has been added, add heavy cream, paprika, cayenne, TABASCO®, fresh thyme and bay leaves. Cover, lower heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add crawfish tails, green onions and parsley to soup. Cook additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove bay leaves.
Ladle soup into appetizer or entrée bowls and place large spoonful of white rice in middle of each.

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