Assemble your ingredients.

First, make the shrimp broth. Heat a saucepan on medium heat and add the extra virgin olive oil. Add the shrimp shells and garlic.

Saute the shells until they become fragrant and turn pink.

Add the vegetable stock and scrape the bottom of the pan so that the shrimp shells and garlic are all mixed together into the stock.

Turn the heat to low and allow the stock to simmer while you prep the other ingredients.

While preparing the jalapeno, onion, carrots, and celery, be sure to not throw out the scraps. Simply add the ends, peels, etc. to your simmering stock for extra flavor.

Heat a dutch oven or large pot to medium high heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil, onions, carrots, and celery. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Allow these vegetables (a.k.a. mirepoix) to cook for 3-4 minutes or until slightly tender.

Once the vegetables are cooked, add a little bit of the stock and stir the vegetables together so any bits that have stuck to the bottom are scraped up. This is called “deglazing”.

Now, add the potatoes and cook with the vegetables for about 2-3 minutes. Add a little bit more stock if the vegetables start to stick to the bottom.

Add the diced tomatoes (with liquid), tomato sauce and oregano.

Now, we will go back to the shrimp stock. After about 30 minutes of simmering, it’s time to strain the shrimp stock. Strain the stock and pour the liquid into the soup pot.

Add the peeled shrimp to the soup.

Season with salt and pepper. Let the soup simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes and shrimp are cooked.

Taste the soup. Season appropriately to your liking.

The final step will be adding the chopped cilantro right before serving.