Spicy Shrimp Bisque in a Bread Bowl

In a large dutch oven, melt 1 Tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add shrimp shells and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add in wine, scraping up any brown bits. Then add in chicken broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the mixture through a sieve and into a separate bowl to remove the shell pieces. Reserve the broth.

In the same dutch oven, melt the remaining butter. Add shrimp meat to the pot and cook for 3 minutes until just turning opaque. Remove the shrimp and reserve in a bowl.

Stir the onion, carrots and celery into the pot and cook over medium heat until they are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice, bay leaf, salt and cayenne. Stir for 30 seconds, then add in your broth mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Add the tomatoes with juice to the pot and cook over medium high heat for 10 minutes stirring often. Remove Bay Leaf. Add shrimp back to pot and kill the heat.

Whip out your emulsion blender ( or your food processor) and blend the soup until smooth. I like to pull out a few shrimp before blending to add some chunkiness to the soup after blending. Stir in sherry and half and half.

Cut out the center of a bread bowl. Leaving the bottom and sides intact.

Ladle the soup in each bowl and enjoy.