Spicy Lobster Pasta

- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2lobsters, 1½ pounds each
- 2tablespoons butter
- 1small carrot, chopped
- 1celery rib, chopped
- 1bay leaf
- A few thyme sprigs
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1small onion, finely diced
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- ½teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (pepperoncino)
- Salt and pepper
- ½cup white wine
- 2cups tomato purée
- ½cup heavy cream
- 1pound bucatini pasta, or other firm-textured dry pasta
- 3tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1teaspoon lemon zest
Preparation
- Step 1
Steam or boil lobsters for 6 minutes. Cool to room temperature under running water. Separate claws and tails from lobster heads. Remove tail meat from shell. Pull away black vein and discard, then cut meat into ½-inch slices and set aside. Crack claws with mallet, without removing meat, and set aside.
- Step 2
With a large knife, split lobster heads in half lengthwise. Remove and discard stomach sacks located just behind eyes (remove green tomalley also if you wish) and roughly chop tail shell. Heat butter in a wide saucepan or skillet over medium high heat. Add heads and shells, with any collected juices, and sauté for about 1 minute. Add carrot, celery, bay leaf and thyme and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Add 3 cups water and simmer rapidly for about 10 minutes to reduce by half. Strain, discarding shells, herbs and vegetables. You should yield 1½ cups rich lobster broth.
- Step 3
Wipe pan with paper towel and return to stovetop over medium-high heat. Warm the olive oil, then add diced onion, garlic and hot pepper flakes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until onions are completely soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Take care not to let onion mixture brown.
- Step 4
Add wine and simmer rapidly for 2 minutes, then add tomato purée and lobster broth. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add cream and simmer until sauce has thickened somewhat, about 5 minutes more. Turn off heat and adjust seasoning (it should be spicy). You can prepare up to this point several hours in advance.
- Step 5
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Reheat sauce, add cracked lobster claws and simmer for 2 minutes. Add sliced lobster meat and cook for a minute or less, until just heated through. Mix parsley and lemon zest together. Drain pasta and add to sauce, tossing to coat noodles and distribute lobster meat, then transfer to a warm bowl or platter. Arrange one claw on top of each serving and sprinkle with parsley mixture.
Private Notes
Comments
The sauce in this recipe is simply spectacular. If you are looking for a celebratory centerpiece to a dinner party, this is definitely a recipe to consider. The only complicated element is preparing the lobsters which takes getting used to if you are unfamiliar with how they come apart. The end product looks and tastes great and is enjoyably different from what you usually see served at dinner parties.
I found the lobster stock rich and flavorful but, in my view, made the sauce a bit thin so I added tomato paste to thicken. We loved this dish and will make it again and again!
This turned out fantastic and is definitely something you could make for Valentine's Day/New Year's/to impress a new date. For the 3 cups for water for the stock I simply added water from the pot that I'd used to boil the lobster. I found that the amount of sauce turned out to be nearly twice what was needed to sauce a pound of pasta and was able to save some sauce for another time. Possibly for sauteed shrimp.
This recipe is fabulous! I tweaked it just a bit after reading the comments that it may come out watery. I added a couple of tbsp of tomato paste as opposed to tomato juice and it came out perfectly for one pound of pappardelle. I also made my own lobster stock from leftover shells from a few nights prior (we live in Maine).
Have made this recipe a few times this summer, I used several small lobster tails also add cut up fresh shrimp to the sauce at the end . Cant find whole lobster in the desert. Anyway works fine just prepare as recipe described with the tail shells for the lobster broth. Its a favorite of my family.
Great recipe. I used Calabrian chilis for the heat and it was delicious! Also served on homemade squid ink pasta which really enhanced the color of the dish.