I've been living in Lyon for about 10 years now and quenelles is big thing here ! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read more about it here. I wanted to try making a sauce with shrimps heads and shells, because it goes well with pike.

If you've had shrimps recently and asked yourself "what can I do with my shrimps heads and shells ?" then this recipe is for you. We reuse the heads, legs and shells to turn them into a deliciously strong and tasty sauce. It's incredible with pike quenelles and you waste less by reusing all of your shrimps shells.

If I know I'm not gonna eat quenelles soon, I put the heads and shells of shrimps in a ziplock bag and freeze them until I'm ready to use them. No need to thaw them before making the sauce, just throw them in as is.

Quenelles in shrimp sauce (serves 2-3) :

• 6 pike quenelles
• 1 handful grated cheese

For the shrimp sauce :

• Head and shells from 400g shrimps
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 5cl white wine
• 20cl tomato sauce
• 20cl water
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Mince the carrot and onion.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, add the onion and carrot. Let it cook 2 minutes, stir often.

Add the shrimps heads and shells and let it get golden.

Deglaze with white wine, add tomato sauce and half the water.

Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more water if needed.

Pour the sauce over a strainer. The sauce mus the liquid, it's okay.

Preheat the oven at 200°C/400°F.

Place the quenelles in an oven safe dish.

Pour the sauce over the quenelles, it must go up to half or 3/4 of the quenelles.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Quenelles must be puffy and the cheese must be golden and crispy.

Serve warm !