Remove heads from 18 large and peel the tails. Put the tail meat aside for the quenelles and save the heads and shells for the soup.
Soup:
Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat and saute the
onion and a shallot until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the heads and shells of the spot prawns along with the thyme, a few
basil leaves and the chopped tomatoes.
Continue to saute until the tomatoes are heated through, then pour on the
cream and the Pernod if desired.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the soup to cook while you make the
mousse for the quenelles, about 15 minutes.
Quenelles:
Put the peeled tails in a food processor with the egg white, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and puree until the mixture becomes a smooth mousse. Put the mousse in a small mixing bowl. Strain the soup into a clean saucepan and put the solids in a food processor with the cup of boiling water. Pulse the motor on and off until the cooked shrimp heads are almost pureed, then strain the puree into the saucepan with the rest of the soup and discard the remaining solids. Keep the soup warm while you cook the quenelles.
To cook the quenelles, put the quart of water with the vinegar and salt over high heat and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium to keep the water gently boiling. With a wet tablespoon, shape the shrimp mousse into 6 oval-shaped dumplings, dropping them into the water as they are formed. Poach the quenelles until they float to the top and are barely cooked through, about 3 minutes. Distribute the soup evenly in six shallow soup bowls and plant a poached quenelle in the middle of each bowl. Garnish each serving with a few fronds shredded basil leaves.
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