FRIDAY FISH: Shrimp-Tortellini Chowder with Black Pepper-Parmesan Corn Muffins

/ More Time at the Table

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First Congregational Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Each spring, my friend Chris Hall — who’s in charge of the Healthy Living cooking classes at our fine downtown church — emails me about choosing a date and topic for my yearly class. I like to teach individually or in small groups but make the exception for this fun and laughing, engaged group of loving cooks who can number anywhere from 20-40! Some years I even teach two times, depending on my schedule and Chris’ needs. Our 150-year old green church kitchen (no AC and difficult-to-reach windows) is hot anytime of year so I choose spring or fall and avoid summer like the plague it is. Chris usually wants to have a title for my class and having to settle on something so early leads me to choose a rather general topic that I can fudge as needed. This year, I was ready for her: It was going to be Whole Meal Soups with Dessert Pairings. While I haven’t gotten the corresponding dessert figured, the first soup will certainly be one of my new Friday Fish favorites, Shrimp-Tortellini Chowder, featured right here today.

Asparagus and Leeks, both highlighted in today’s soup, are always the best buds in the kitchen. Or, as I like to say, “What grows together goes together.” PHOTO COURTESY: Gourmet Magazine.

I adore a good chowder of any sort and husband Dave’s favorite Christmas Eve meal lately is Clam Chowder…the easy variety with lots of veggies. When it’s Lent and I’m on the hunt for new Friday Fish selections, some sort of soup, stew, or chowder is always perking. This year, with shrimp on the brain from the start, it occurred to me a chowder could still be a chowder if you added tortellini. Potatoes, along with milk, are typical elements but I’d added small pasta another time or two with no serious repercussions. Why not tortellini? It’s an all-time favorite ingredient on the blog and elsewhere, too, I’d guess. I could add the usual suspects but had a dream about leeks…another about artichokes… and yet another about asparagus as it’s the vegetable of spring … and before I knew it, I was cooking:

Chop veggies by hand if you like or save your strength and use the food processor!
…a few pulses later and Bob’s your uncle–there’re your veggies all chopped
Sauté with herbs and spices, add wine….add broth, clam juice, and water to make a cheater’s broth (or use your own fish stock) and let cook a while.

Chop the shrimp while the vegetables and broth cook. Stick back in the fridge.
Add the tortellini (mine takes 5 minutes) and let it cook for 3 minutes.
Add the shrimp and artichokes for the last 2 minutes
Here I added the milk slurry after the tortellini and shrimp. I also tried it before and like it a bit better that way, as it is in the recipe.

You could do the asparagus garnish first and set it aside but there’s plenty of time while the chowder cooks.

Watch carefully after the tortellini has begun to cook and you’ve added the shrimp. Don’t walk away! Serve hot immediately with the asparagus and Parmigiano Reggiano garnishes.

Hope you’ll soon find time to try this:

Print Recipe

Shrimp-Tortellini Chowder

Shrimp, cheese tortellini, and frozen artichokes move in together here to create a new-style filling and quick seafood chowder. While you could skip or replace the fennel or the leeks with additional celery and onions, you'll have a more complex, captivating, and luscious stew when you include them. Here, I use a cheater's version of fish stock but you can cook up your own if you like. Frozen shrimp and refrigerator-case or frozen tortellini make this stew an easy pantry dish. A salad and/or my Parmesan-Pepper Corn Muffins round out the meal along with a happy bottle of California Chardonnay.
4 generous servings or 6 smaller servings

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons salted butter
  • 1 small yellow onion, cut into medium dice (Or use food processor for all of the vegetables and the parsley.)
  • 1 EACH: medium carrot, celery stalk, large leek (white and light green parts only, sliced), small fennel bulb–cut into medium-dice
  • 1 EACH: teaspoon dried thyme and dried oregano
  • Handful fresh parsley, minced
  • Bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I use Morton's.)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • Large plump clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup (4 oz) dry white wine such as Chardonnay
  • 2 (16-oz) Bottles clam juice (Shake well before using.)
  • 4 cups (32 oz) vegetable broth (homemade or Swanson's)
  • 1 cup (8 oz) water or more as needed to keep soup brothy as it cooks
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose, unbleached flour
  • 1 cup (8 oz) whole milk
  • 9 oz fresh or frozen cheese tortellini (I used fresh Buitoni from the refrigerator case in the grocery, which cooks in 5 minutes. Check directions for the brand you choose.)
  • 1/2 pound (8-ounces) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tailed — chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup frozen or jarred artichoke hearts, chopped
  • 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed well, diced and sautéed in olive oil/seasoned with salt and pepper — for garnish
  • 1/2 cup (2.5 oz) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — for garnish

Instructions

  • SAUTÉ VEGETABLES: Heat butter in an 8-qt soup pot over medium flame. Add vegetables, herbs, and spices (onion – crushed red pepper) and cook, stirring for 10 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic.
  • ADD WHITE WINE. Stir to deglaze the pot. Simmer a few minutes until wine is absorbed.
  • ADD CLAM JUICE, BROTH, AND WATER. Stir. Cover; raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce to simmer, and cook 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Taste; add salt or pepper as needed.
  • WHISK FLOUR INTO MILK in a cup and whisk the slurry into the soup. Simmer a few minutes to thicken the broth a little.
  • ADD TORTELLINI and cook about 3 minutes. (Check tortellini package directions and add/subtract cooking time if necessary.) ADD SHRIMP and artichoke hearts and cook another two minutes or until tortellini is done and shrimp is pink and just barely firm. Taste and adjust seasonings. Do not overcook. Remove from heat.
  • SERVE HOT at once garnished with cooked asparagus pieces and grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Pass pepper grinder at table.
    LEFTOVERS: While best served just as it's made, you can store for a day or two in the fridge. Gently re-heat this chowder, adding some milk or broth as you do because it will have thickened greatly. Heat over medium -low heat until just hot; do not boil. Taste and season again as necessary.

Notes

MAKE AHEAD? While shrimp dishes aren’t easy to make-ahead as shrimp so easily overcooks, here you can sauté the vegetables and make the broth a day ahead, chilling it overnight.  Next evening, heat until simmering and proceed from there, adding the milk slurry and then the rest of the ingredients.

NEED WINE? Chardonnay or White Burgundy, please!

Why it Always Pays to Buy Artichoke Hearts Frozen/Food Republic

Quick Fish Stock/Food Network

Quick and Easy Shrimp Stock/The Spruce Eats — if you have shrimp shells, you can make this!

What is a slurry? Here’s How to Make One…./thekitchn.com

Homemade Buttermilk Recipe/allrecipes

TIP: What do inexperienced cooks often skip? The final taste and re-seasoning. This includes re-seasoning after refrigerating and reheating. Salt isn’t everything but it’s a lot. Acid is another prime ingredient. As in a splash of red wine vinegar in a bowl of ham and beans. Or a last squeeze of lemon over a salad that just needs something. Sometimes a little hot sauce or a grind of pepper is the exact thing a pot or plate needs. Not to make it hot but to encourage and plump up the flavors already present. Personal note: I keep a few ground herbs on hand (thyme, rosemary, fennel) for the odd occasions when nothing seems to help a dish I perhaps didn’t cook long enough or for which I didn’t have the best ingredients or method. Just a smidge…1/4 teaspoon, maybe. Taste and try again. Sometimes just hits that spot. Another last ditch solution? Let the dish sit overnight in the fridge and let the flavors marry. See how it feels in the morning.

CHANGE IT UP:

  • Gluten-Free: Swap in medium to large-diced cauliflower florets or potatoes for the tortellini. Wild rice is another possibility. (Or a combination of these ingredients!) Replace all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour of your choice. Choose a one-for one replacement flour or something more neutral in taste than almond flour.
  • No shrimp? White fish fillets can be chopped and used instead of shrimp. Crab is another idea should you be flush/married to a crabber or you could even use half shrimp and half crab. Andrew Zimmern makes an interesting chowder with both.
  • Corn is a popular chowder element. Add some frozen or fresh corn along with the artichokes if you like — perhaps a half cup (kernels from one medium ear). Don’t overdo it because while corn is tasty and colorful, it’s also a decided sweetener.
  • Choose parsnips or butternut squash or turnips rather than carrots? Why not? I often use carrots because I have them, I like them, they’re inexpensive, they make great broth, and they’re beautiful. So there. Parsnips and turnips are also lovely for broth (Parsnips are particularly great for brothy gravy) and butternut or other winter squash win in the color contest. See recipe headnote for additional vegetable substitutions.
  • Garnishes make the soup not only because they brighten and create interest and texture in the flavor profile but because the color(s) draws us in as diners. Use thinly sliced scallions, diced fresh red bell pepper or cherry tomatoes or additional parsley (minced) or sautéed chopped mushrooms or (your choice) in place of the asparagus and Parmigiano Reggiano if you like. Keep in mind garnishes can add nutrition even though in small amounts. Great to use up bits and bobs if you have some that work well for your soup.
  • Dairy free? I haven’t done that for this particular recipe but you can check out this Dairy-Free Chowder Recipe from AllRecipes.

For a crispy exterior and a tender interior, do not use cupcake papers for your muffins. Grease the hello out of your pan.

Print Recipe

Black Pepper – Parmesan Corn Muffins

Great with soup, these tender-crispy gems are also perfect right out of the oven to go with your eggs or coffee. While there are certainly pepper and cheese, those flavors aren’t screaming and just add up to a tasty cornmeal muffin. Best warm, they will also travel well in the picnic basket or in a big pocket on a long walk. I tested these twice with a little garlic and while I liked them a little better without, you might want to add one clove garlic, grated or smashed and chopped very finely.
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

  • Shortening or softened butter for greasing muffin tin
  • ¼ cup (4oz/60 grams) salted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup (8 oz/227 grams) buttermilk
  • ½ cup (50 grams) white granulated flour
  • 1 cup (120 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup (120 grams) yellow cornmeal
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt I use Morton’s.
  • 3/4 cup (2 ¾ oz/75 grams) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Softened salted butter for serving

Instructions

  • PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and set rack at center. Grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin tin really well, including around the top edges, or line with cupcake papers if you prefer. (I think muffins are better without the paper as they bake with a crispier crust.)
  • MIX TOGETHER THE WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the cooled butter, egg, buttermilk, and sugar. Set aside.
  • MIX TOGETHER THE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • STIR TOGETHER THE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS: Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir together until just barely mixed.
  • USING A SPRAYED LARGE SCOOP, divide the batter into the greased muffin cups. Top each with some cheese – about tablespoon. Grind some black pepper over each; I use 3 twists of my pepper grinder.
  • BAKE UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN and toothpick inserted at center comes out clean or nearly clean– 14-16 minutes. Set tin on cooling rack for 5-8 minutes. Bang pan firmly a few times and flip to turn muffins out. Or, using an off-set spatula or a small, thin knife, lift muffins out of cups, cutting around edges if necessary. Serve warm with butter.
    LEFTOVERS: Cool; place leftovers in resealable bag and store a day or two at room temperature, one week in fridge, and 2 months in the freezer. To reheat: Slice in half, butter, and brown on both sides in grill pan or skillet over medium-high flame.

Notes

Note: Weights from KAF.
Copyright Alyce Morgan, 2024. All rights reserved.
Messy is as messy does 😉

OR make corn bread croutons for salad or a simple soup:

Fry 1″ cubes of corn muffin in 1/4″ olive oil until browned on both sides.
Toss w/ salt/pepper in paper towel-lined bowl.
Add to salad.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Air Fryer Shrimp Louis Tacos

Coconut-Ginger Butternut Squash Soup with Grilled Shrimp (Instant Pot)

Tuna-Asparagus Pasta Chowder

Spicy Tomato-Shrimp Stew

LIFE GOES ON:

Blog followers (special people) might remember Lurkey Turkey, the sad-sack solo hen who wanders around our neighborhood every so often. I ran into her twice recently, once walking up a neighbor’s side yard path. I can’t not see dinner when I spy turkeys, but lean and mean she probably is–as are many wild birds. We’ll give her one more pass. Want to know more about the habits of wild turkeys? Check out this PBS Wild Turkey Fact Sheet.

…taken from car

This big guy (below), who appears to be posing, stops by on a fairly regular basis. Here, he looks right at me through the large window in our sunroom. Poor Rosie (our 9-year old labradoodle); he drives her nuts. The tree at right is an old ornamental crab tree — stunning in the spring. The deer pick up the leftover, rotting tiny apples all winter but also hoof up what little grass we try to grow.

This post has taken twice as long as usual to cook, test, and write. Both husband Dave and I have been fighting viral infections for a couple of weeks up and down since returning from Dave’s dad’s funeral. Then I got thrown into bed for days with a UTI. The kind doc says UTIs often arrive when our lives or schedules have undergone change, as in a new job, travel, and so on. We somehow don’t drink as much water during times of stress (don’t want to pee while flying, for instance), hence dehydration and UTI. God help me; I’ll drink enough water from now on. This is my second bout in 7 months. Live and learn. The medicine really works but gee I’m still wiped out.

Put shrimp and tortellini on your shopping list so I can keep you company in your kitchen!

Enjoy this early spring and thanks for stopping in,

Alyce

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