This flavoursome soup is served in small dishes as a taster to pique the palate for what’s to come. Use underplates with your bowls or cups for a formal presentation.
50g butter
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 bay leaves
500g raw prawns in the shell (thawed frozen is fine)
½ cup white wine
170g can crab meat, drained
¼ cup tomato paste
500ml fish stock
1 tablespoon cornflour mixed with
2 tablespoons water (if needed)
½ cup cream
To garnish: dill tips, extra crab meat, garlic-infused avocado oil (or similar)
Heat butter in a large saucepan and sauté onion, garlic and bay leaves over low heat 3-4 minutes until onion has softened.
Add whole prawns and sauté 4-5 minutes until just coloured. Add wine, crab meat, tomato paste and fish stock and simmer 20 minutes.
Discard bay leaves. Remove prawns from pan and extract meat, saving juices. Return meat and juices to soup and blend until smooth. (For a perfectly smooth texture, push soup through a sieve.) Soup can be made ahead to this point.
Bring soup back to a simmer. If it needs thickening, stir in cornflour paste and cook 2 minutes. Add cream and season to taste with sea salt and white pepper.
Serve the soup in small warmed cups, bowls or glasses. Garnish as desired; we used freshly picked dill tips, a little crab meat and a few drops of oil. We also placed a crab claw (available frozen at supermarkets) on each underplate.
Serves 6-8
