Rustic Tomato Basil Bisque
Y'all. It's honestly a miracle that we managed to finagle any kind of post this week. But look, girls, despite insane work schedules and a never ending supply of laundry to wash, we did it. We made tomato bisque. Really fucking amazing, creamy, hearty, moan-worthy tomato bisque. If you don't moan while eating this we've failed you.
Even though I was pretty busy this week, I still managed to get lost in a weird worm hole on the Internet looking to find the origin of bisque and how it differs from chowder and soup. Do you guys want a lesson? No? Cool you're getting one anyway (luv u).
Sooooo, bisque is a traditional French dish that requires pulverizing seafood shells and using the powder to thicken and flavor the broth. It typically contains chunks of shrimp, crab, or fish, but has in recent years basically come to be the term used to refer to any thick, seafood or vegetable based soup-like thing. I'm actually kind of confused as to how modern-day bisque differs from chowder... because they're both thick and chunky... I don't really know. But traditional French bisque is different because of the whole pulverized seafood shells thing? Oh and then soup is just soup... it's thin, not usually chunky, and broth based. That was such a shitty lesson I am so so sorry.
Anyhow, we've got a week of working, apartment hunting (P.S. WE ARE MOVING!), and wine guzzling ahead, hope it's a good one for all of you, cuties!
Rustic Tomato Bisque
(serves 6-8)
- ½ stick of butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 lbs plum tomatoes
- Salt and pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup tawny port
- 4 oz goat cheese
- Bay leaves
- 1 bunch basil
- In a large pot, combine the olive oil, tomatoes, and salt and pepper over medium-high heat. Cook for 25 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the tomatoes have blistered and burst. Once it gets to this stage, begin the roux.
- Prepare the roux by melting the butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low and sift in the flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes, until it is beige in color. Whisk in 1 cup of the heavy cream.
- Add the roux to the pot of cooked tomatoes, along with the chicken stock, remaining heavy cream, tawny port, goat cheese, bay leaves, and half of the bunch of basil. Stir until the goat cheese has melted and become fully incorporated into the bisque. Let simmer, stirring occasionally, for half an hour.
- Remove the basil leaves and bay leaves before serving. Serve with sour cream and fresh chopped basil. Leftovers will keep fresh in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap for up to one week.
Get the recipe for this bisque here or head over to Susty Party's website and use the code "probablythis" for $10 off your purchase. Susty Party makes environmentally-friendly disposable dinnerware and sources manufacturers who employ the blind, which we think is super cool.
Thanks so much Susty Party for sponsoring this post! All opinions are our own.