Creamy Tomato and Shrimp Chowder

JackieOhNo!'s Note:

I find this absolutely addictive. It is super easy to make, yet tastes like it's been cooking for hours. With a nice salad and some ciabatta bread, it makes a satisfying meal. Or, it would make an elegant and awesome first course for your dinner party or special meal.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with basil oregano and garlic
• 1 lb medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 8 ounces small raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup water
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• chopped fresh basil, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat in large stockpot or saucepan.
2. Add celery and onion, and cook until translucent and tender.
3. Pour in tomatoes and their liquid.
4. Heat to a simmer.
5. Add medium shrimp, return to a simmer, and cook until shrimp turn pink.
6. Add small shrimp, and cook for about 2 minutes.
7. Stir in heavy cream and water and bring to a simmer.
8. Season to taste with cayenne and black pepper.
9. Sprinkle fresh basil over soup and stir in just to wilt it.
10. Serve.

Reviews

[appleydapply]

We really enjoyed this tasty soup with some french bread last night! The only change I made was to pulse half of the tomatoes briefly in the food processor to reduce some of the tomato chunks. And I had to add some Lawry's at the end, because I thought it would have enough salt with the canned tomatoes, but it just needed a little more. The reason for only 4 stars instead of 5 is that the soup tasted great, but didn't have any shrimp flavor. Unless the spoonful included a shrimp, the soup otherwise just tasted like creamy tomato soup. I'm not sure how to increase the shrimp flavor - possibly using fish stock?