Spicy Lobster Pasta
Presented (nearly) without comment.
Yeah, it’s that good. Just be sure to poach your tails (or whole lobsters!) with shells on – because there’s no such thing as too much lobster flavor.
Calamarata is also inarguably the best pasta shape for this occasion, major seafood vibes.
Let’s cook!
You’ll need:
4 lobster tails (1–1.5 lbs), in their shells
1 lb dried pasta, such as Calamarata
1/2 fennel bulk (or 1 small bulb)
1 large shallot
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
8oz bottled clam juice
28oz canned cherry tomatoes
1 handful fresh basil leaves
1 handful fresh parsley
1/2 lemon
1 tsp crushed red pepper
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2c dry white wine
EVOO
Salt & fresh-cracked pepper
Makes ~4 servings.
Steps:
Cut stalks and rough base from the fennel (discard), and cut bulb 1 in. chunks. Pulse fennel in a food processor* until “riced.” If not using a processor, simply dice the bulb up as fine as possible. Thinly slice shallot, breaking up its rings; mince garlic.
Coat the bottom of a sauté pan or large skillet well with EVOO, heat over medium. Once hot, add the shallots and processed fennel and sauté until softened, ~5 mins. Add minced garlic and crushed reds, cook for 2 mins more, being careful not to brown. Reduce heat if needed.
Deglaze the pan with white wine, cooking down for ~2 mins; add clam juice, bring to boil, and reduce by half. Once reduced, add the canned tomatoes, with their juices, and the basil (roughly chopped).
Bring to a gentle boil, and then reduce to a simmer for ~10 mins. Gently burst most of the tomatoes with the back of your spoon.
Nestle lobster tails, in their shells, in the sauce, cover, and poach for 5-7 mins depending on their size. Once the shells are bright red and meat opaque, remove and let cool. Tip: dunk quickly in an ice bath in order to be able to handle them sooner!
Once cool enough to handle, crack tails, remove shells, and chop the lobster meat into 1/2 in pieces. Just when your pasta has ~2 mins left to finish boiling (not sooner!), return the lobster meat to the sauce, along with 4 pads of butter.
Before draining pasta, reserve 1 cup of the water. Drain pasta, toss into sauce; add a few glugs of pasta water, and roughly chopped parsley. Stir constantly, adding additional water if needed for consistency.
Serve immediately, garnished with more parsley and a squeeze of lemon!