Prawn Ravioli with Crustacean Bisque Sauce
I’ve had this recipe for 5 years and finally got around to making it! Perhaps my initial procrastination was my fear that it would be too involved and time consuming. However, the preparation wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. This recipe is adapted from Australian Good Taste magazine. It’s one of those recipes where it not only sounds good but the taste is sensational! I would make this again in a heartbeat and my family is eagerly awaiting that time when I make it again. Need I say more?
Serves 6
12 medium prawns, peeled and cleaned, shells reserved for bisque sauce
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 coriander roots, washed and finely choppped
200ml pouring cream
36 wonton wrappers
Crustacean Bisque Sauce
olive oil
reserved shells from prawns
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 clove of garlic, shopped
100ml white wine
50ml brandy
50ml port
4 tomatoes, halved, seeded and chopped
8 sprigs of thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
800ml chicken stock
80ml pouring cream
For crustacean bisque sauce, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy based saucepan and cook reserved prawn shells over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until light golden. Add onion, carrot and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the wine, brandy, port and cook until reduced by half. Add tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf and stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer liquid to a clean saucepan, add cream, then season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Process prawns, garlic, coriander roots and cream in a food processor until smooth, then season to taste. Place half the wanton wrappers on a dry work surface and place 1 level tablespoonful of prawn mixture on each. Lightly brush edges of wrappers with water, then place remaining wrappers on top and press down well, squeezing gently to ensure there are no air pocket.
Cook ravioli (in batches) in plenty of boiling salted water for 2 minutes or until cooked through. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon, drain well and divide between 6 warm bowls. While the ravioli is being cooked, reheat the sauce and pour over ravioli. Serve immediately.
The Culinary Chase’s Note: Coriander roots are nutty, spicy and have a bit of an orange-like flavor which marry well with the prawns and sauce. To taste a bit of the prawn mixture before placing on a wrapper, take a teaspoonful and microwave it. Then decide if you want more salt or pepper.
I really love your food and your cooking.
The sauce sounds really interesting; I don’t think I’ve tasted anything quite like it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thanks Cynthia for your kind words!
Thanks Lydia! The flavors are really lovely so do try this one! Cheers!
I am still confused as to what prawns translate to in the U.S. Can regular shrimp taste the same? Thanks for the recipe. This one sounds like a keeper.
as luck would have it I had some prawns in the freezer (shrimp would work just as well). This recipe sounded very intriguing, somewhat complicated, and delicious. In the end it didn’t turn out to be that difficult but it is a bit tedious to make the raviolis. I found the raviolis to be excellent but really couldn’t percieve the taste of the coriander root, not that it wasn’t interesting, it was. The sauce I thought was going to be out of this world given all the ingredients. In the end it was bland and a bit too “soup” like, it just rolled off the pasta like water. It’s subtle but I prefer something more tasty. I cooked half last night and now am trying to figure out how to make the sauce a bit better before having it again tonight. For all the tediousness in making this, I feel it’s not worth making again in the future unless I can tweak the sauce a bit.
Hi Candy! My understanding is that a shrimp is smaller than a prawn so you would need more shrimp in this recipe. Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Bill, thanks for your comment. The broth from the prawn shells & vegetables will be thin but if you use pouring cream or even a heavier cream, it will thick the soup up somewhat. Also, I really mushed the vegetables through the strainer. This recipe, isn’t supposed to be a thick creamy soup as most bisques tend to be. It’s meant to be a bit lighter.
I’m sorry to hear you weren’t taken with the broth’s flavor as the combination of the shells, vegetables along with the wine, brandy & port should have done the trick.
With the leftover broth, try reducing it to half & then add a bit more of cream and season with salt & pepper. Let me know how it turns out. Cheers!
Hi Culinary Chase!! Come to think of it, I did forget the last bit of cream. I still have half the broth left and my girlfriend has suggested that I turn it into an asparagus soup, which I will do so. Last night I trimmed the edges off the remaining won tons and deep fried them for 3 minutes at 375 degree F.. There were delicious!!! I might make it again and I think I would reduce the chicken broth somewhat, I think it overpowered the alcohol tastes which I was looking forward to and I won’t forget the last part of cream. I did push the vegetables thru a strainer fairly well. I love your site and look forward to trying other of your recipes. I found it via Food Wishes link. Cheers!!! Bill
These look great… I bet they taste great too! Nice presentation!!