Description

This Lobster Bisque Recipe is made simple and easy with quick homemade lobster stock, big bites of lobster, and a creamy luscious bisque thickened with sweet potatoes. For extra decadence saute the lobster in browned butter infused with garlic, and serve with warm garlic bread.

Ingredients

Units Scale

4-5 lobster tails (4-6 ounces each) or 20 ounces, or 1.25 lbs. ( or sub 1 lb lobstor meat)
5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
1 onion, diced
2 fat garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, diced (1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh
1 medium yam, peeled, diced (2 cups) or sub carrots
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup sherry wine or white wine (do not use sherry vinegar)
3 cups lobster stock (you'll make this with the shells from above) or see notes.
1 cup heavy cream (or sub coconut milk)
optional additions: fish sauce, salt, pepper, cayenne

Browned butter Lobster Topping

2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, smashed

Garnish: tarragon, chives or flatleaf parsley- tarragon is classic.

Serve with Crusty Bread or Garlic bread.

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Instructions

Cook lobster and stock: Place lobster tails in a stockpot with 5 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 5-7 minutes, or until tails turn vibrant red and begin to curl. Using tongs, place tails in bowl to cool, reserving the hot lobster water in the pot.
Prep Lobster. Remove lobster meat from the tails ( see photos) Chop the lobster meat, keeping a few pretty red pieces larger, for garnishing. Keep any red roe, as it adds flavor and color. Refrigerate.
Stock. Return the shells and any of their juices, back into the lobster water. Simmer 20 mins while you prepare the rest of the soup.
Bisque: In a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add garlic, celery, and thyme, and lower heat to medium, saute 5 more minutes until onions are softened. Add diced yam, cook 4 minutes, add tomato paste, paprika and bay leaf. Stir 1-2 minutes. Deglaze with the sherry wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook this off, or if comfortable, carefully tilt the pot to let it ignite (stand back) and burn off the alcohol.
Strain the lobster stock. You should have about 3 cups ( add water to make it 3 cups if necessary). Pour 3 cups into the pot with the veggies. Bring to a simmer on med-low, covered, and cook until the yams and celery are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
Blend. Add 1/4 of the chopped lobster to this ( use the smallest pieces) and blend all until smooth and creamy (either using an immersion blender or blend in batches using a regular blender- remember, if hot, hold the lid down tight with a towel.)
Combine and taste. Pour this back into the Dutch oven. Add the cream. Taste. Season with salt and pepper. To add more depth, a tiny splash of fish sauce may help. If you like a little pep, a pinch or two of cayenne is nice.
Brown the Lobster. In a medium skillet, swirl the butter and smashed garlic cloves over medium-high heat until nutty and fragrant. Add the remaining lobster, and saute 1-2 minutes. Set aside a few of the biggest, prettiest pieces for garnish and add the remaining smaller pieces to the soup.
Simmer the soup gently on low heat for a few more minutes. It will taste more “lobstery” as the flavors have a chance to meld. Sometimes I’ll let this sit on the stove for 1/2 hour, then gently reheat before serving.
Divide among bowls, garnish the top with the bigger pieces of lobster and fresh tarragon leaves (or chives and parsley).
Serve with warm garlic bread.

Notes

Elevated flavor. Using Sherry wine, tarragon, and heavy cream gives this the BEST classic flavor.

Lobster Stock. If you are using lobster meat without shells, you’ll need to use 3 cups of fish stock or lobster stock (you can use lobster boullion) or mix ½ cup of clam juice with 2 ½ cups of water.

Nutrition

Serving Size: with heavy cream
Calories: 514
Sugar: 5.7 g
Sodium: 1365.2 mg
Fat: 24.9 g
Saturated Fat: 12.7 g
Carbohydrates: 25.9 g
Fiber: 4.4 g
Protein: 39.5 g
Cholesterol: 331.2 mg