Seafood and Smoked Ham Soup en Croûte

Last month a friend of my mom faxed a recipe for her. She recommended my mom to try it. It was a cream soup recipe.  Hmm… sometimes my mom cooks cream soup for lunch so this recipe was not completely new to her. However, the different thing was that the recipe said the soup is eaten with puff pastry which is pasted above the soup. It is just like the one sold in Pizza Hut restaurant. Interested in the recipe, mom finally decided to try it one day. Of course, I did not forget to take some pictures of the results. They were as yummy as the one sold in cafes or restaurants!

Puffy Cream Soup ^^

Soup en Croute/Puffy cream soup

Serve it hot!

Later, I realized that there is a particular name for this kind of food. Look at the title and you know the name. Yup, it’s soup en croute. The term “en croute” is derived from French. The term refers to food that is wrapped or covered with pastry and then baked. The word "croute" itself means crust. It was so fascinating to hear the crisp sound of the puff pastry when I was breaking the crust, hoho…! Afterwards the mouth-watering smell of the soup rising from under the crust really whetted my appetite! That was an unforgettable delight, haha…

Are you curious about the recipe? Here I share it with you!

Ingredients:

30grs Onion – chopped

2 tablespoons Butter

50grs Shrimps

100grs Sweet corn kernels (canned corn is fine too)

250cc Cooking cream (ex.: Elle&Vire)

550cc water

2 pcs Bay leaves

2 pcs Smoked ham

Salt, pepper as desired

2-3 tablespoons multi-purpose flour (optional)

Puff pastry sheets – take out from the freezer and set aside to let it melt

Cooking Methods:

1. Clean the shrimps and remove the shells. Heat the pan, sauté the shrimps with onion and butter until half-done.
2. Chop the smoked ham. Pour the corn and smoked ham into the pan, stir well.
3.  Next, it’s time to add the cooking cream. While stirring the cream mixture, slowly pour in water.
4.  Add the bay leaves into the soup. If you think the cream soup is not thick enough, dissolve the flour with some water and pour it into the mixture, stir well.
5.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper. If you see boiling bubbles appear while stirring, it’s time to turn off the stove.
6. Remove the bay leaves from the soup. Pour it into bowls and let it chill.
7. After the puff pastry has turned supple and the soup has cooled down, cut the pastry a little bigger than the bowl. Stretch and tighten it to the surface of the bowl. Make sure not to touch the soup. 
8. Beat an egg and spread onto the puff pastry. Oven it until the color turned golden brown. 

HAPPY COOKING! ^o^/'