I really, REALLY love shrimp. I think it is pretty much the perfect meat. And because it is so perfect, I usually do very little in the way of preparing shrimp. Most often, I toss the shrimp into the steamer, sprinkle generously with Old Bay seasoning, and let it do its thing for a few minutes. From there, you are on your way to peel-and-eat delight!
But recently I had a craving for something a little different, a soup that you don’t normally see on restaurant menus. Oh, sure, places will occasionally have Shrimp and Corn Chowder as a daily special, but it’s not like you can run to Panera and order it whenever the mood strikes. And the mood had struck, so I got to work.
This was another attempt at something I have eaten many times but never before tried to make, so I spent a bit of time looking at recipes on Pinterest. In the future, I will try to remember NOT to look on Pinterest when I am already a little hungry. Dear lord. I wanted to lick the monitor on more than one occasion.
I didn’t find one recipe that really encompassed all the ingredients I had, so I merged a couple of ideas, then added some mushrooms and cheddar cheese. All the ingredients (thankfully) ended up melding together into a flavorful soup that was rich and satisfying but not too heavy. We served the final product with a side of cornbread, since we already had a corn theme going on, and devoured the whole pot in record time. Definitely adding this soup to our menu rotation!
- 4 cups water to start (add more water as needed)
- 1 Cup Milk
- ½ stick Butter
- Olive Oil
- 1 lb. shrimp, de veined (we used large shrimp)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 16 ounce bag frozen corn
- 5 large carrots, chopped
- 1 lb. (approx.) potatoes, cubed
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 3 celery stalks, sliced
- ½ cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 2 cubes vegetable bouillon
- 2 cloves garlic, or to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 Bay leaf
- Parsley Flakes, to taste
- Splash olive oil in soup pot and heat.
- Add ½ of the chopped onions. Sauté until onions begin to soften.
- While onions are sautéing, peel and roughly chop 3 of the carrots.
- Add those carrots, the remainder of onion, celery, garlic and bouillon into blender. Cover with water and blend well.
- Slowly pour contents of blender into the pot.
- Add Bay leaf. Stir through.
- Bring to a boil.
- Stir in potatoes, cover, and reduce heat.
- Simmer approximately 15 minutes or until potatoes start to soften.
- Add the remaining carrots (cut into medallions). Add more water as needed. Simmer for another few minutes, covered, until carrots begin to soften.
- Stir in corn, mushrooms, parsley flakes and butter. Simmer until corn is heated through and mushrooms begin to soften.
- Add shrimp.
- When shrimp has turned pink, stir in milk and cheese.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve.