1 8 oz. package Crayfish Tails (I found them frozen at Walmart) or one lobster tail – or substitute fresh if available
3/4 lb. Uncooked Shrimp, fresh or frozen
Knob of minced Ginger
Two cloves of minced Garlic
One large Yellow Onion, diced
2 14-oz. Cans of Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes (plain, not flavored)
1/4 tsp. Cayenne (more or less to taste)
4 oz. Heavy Cream
4 TBL Butter (or even Smart Balance)
Handful of Cilantro
1. Cook the defrosted shrimp in a small amount of water for 3 minutes. Drain and peel BUT reserve the cooking water. Set aside shrimp.
2. Sautee the ginger and garlic in a small amout of vegetable oil just until they start to color.
3. Add the onions, tomatoes and cayenne. Simmer covered until the onions are very soft–about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool some.
4. When cool enough, puree the tomato mixture in a blender or food processor until silky.
5. Return the tomato mixture to the pan, add the cream, butter and shrimp cooking water and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Add the crayfish tails and shrimp, heat only until they are heated through.
7. Serve in warm bowls with chopped cilantro sprinkled over.
Buon Appetito!
An Ex-Expatriate 
Give the Captain my compliments. This sounds like a sure winner, and I have always wanted to do a crayfish soup recipe but they’re simply not stocked here! In Hawaii I recall the summers spent up at the mountain reservoirs….we caught crayfish by the buckets…so much fun!
It is good, good, good… haven’t I seen lobster tails in the markets? Of course one needs to stop at the bank first… maybe that’s why we’ve never eaten lobster in Italy! Catching crayfish by the bucket sounds heavenly.
Rowena–I found frozen crab–in pieces–in our local congelato. Tonight I’ll give this soup a go using that crab and some gamberetti but following the recipe as presented–unless I can find some coconut milk in Rapallo. I struck me that I need to substitute half the cream with coco milk.
I’ll let you know how it comes out.
Louis