One of our favorite ways to enjoy fresh and tasty lobster is in lobster bisque. This rich and creamy dish tastes luxurious and fancy and is easy to make at home! Don’t worry about the word bisque, which can be intimidating to consider making. Bisque is simply a French word for a thick and creamy soup, traditionally made and thickened with seafood stock, so there’s nothing to worry about when it comes time for cooking! We’ll walk you through it.
You can serve this bisque as an appetizer in small bowls or as a main-course meal in large bowls with a salad or a nice rustic bread on the side. You’ll be satisfied and happy with the richness of your bisque in both cases. And this dish comes together in just an hour!
What We’ve Simplified
Many lobster bisque recipes call for a long-simmering of the empty lobster shells to make the stock. While this delivers delicious results, it also takes quite a while. We will prepare a more simple broth here, using pre-made seafood stock. We also have been known to buy our veggies for mirepoix pre-diced at the grocery store.
Mirepoix is a staple of French cooking: a savory flavor mix of diced carrots, celery, and onion cooked in butter or olive oil until they’re soft. This method brings out the sweetness in the aromatics without caramelizing them. Although it’s not hard to dice veggies, we value our time and yours, and it’s totally fine if you take advantage of time-saving tips. You can also make extra mirepoix and freeze it for quick use later!
We’re also going to use our fresh yet frozen lobster tails instead of dealing with a whole live lobster, which is much easier, delivered to your doorstep overnight, and assures that your lobster will be the freshest possible.
Cook Your Lobster Beforehand
You’ll need about a pound of lobster meat for this recipe. Here are instructions for cooking the frozen lobster tails in various ways: steamed, grilled, baked, broiled, and boiled. You can use any method you like. You just need to have your lobster meat already cooked and chopped into chunks before starting your bisque.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- Salt and pepper (We suggest Umami Sea Salt)
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 4 cups of seafood stock
- 1 1/4 cups of dry white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1/2 cups of heavy cream
- 1 Lobster Tail
- 1 handful of chopped chives
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make your mirepoix - Melt salted butter in a Dutch oven and add your chopped carrots, onions, and celery. Cook over medium heat. When your veggies begin getting soft (about 5-6 minutes), sprinkle in salt and pepper, add in tomato paste and fresh minced garlic, and stir, letting the flavors mingle until just before caramelization (around 2-3 minutes).
- Start the broth - Sprinkle flour over your mirepoix and cook, stirring continually, for a minute more. Then stir in your seafood stock and dry white wine. Add the bay leaves and thyme. Turn the burner to low and allow the broth to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Purée the broth - Remove your fresh herbs (bay leaves and thyme) from the pot and purée the broth until smooth, using an immersion blender.
- Add the lobster - Once puréed, add the broth back to the pot and bring it to medium-low heat before adding the heavy cream and lobster meat. Stir and remove from heat once all ingredients are warm.
- Garnish and eat - Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with fresh chives. Serve with French bread or a crusty baguette slathered with butter - it’s time to feast. Bon appétit!