Chefs

Linguine with Half Lobster

By Vancouver Magazine /

From Pino Posteraro’s cookbook, CIOPPINO’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILL: A Lifetime of Excellence in the Kitchen

1 L water
100 mL dry white wine
100 g mixed white vegetables (onions, celery, leeks, celeriac)
1 sprig thyme
2 bay leaves
25 g sea salt (about 38 mL)
5 black peppercorns
2 live Nova Scotia lobsters (each 1 kg)
20 mL extra-virgin olive oil
5 mL chopped garlic
1 mL chopped red chili pepper
20 g Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 1 tomato)
Splash of dry white wine
75 mL lobster jus (recipe available in cookbook)
80 mL nasty tomato sauce (recipe available in cookbook)
8 g julienned basil (about 30 mL)
10 g chopped Italian parsley (about 35 mL)
30 mL whipping cream
320 g dry linguine

In a large stockpot, combine water, the 100 mL of white wine, mixed vegetables, thyme, bay leaves, salt and peppercorns to make a court bouillon. Bring to a boil on high heat.

Fill a large roasting pan with ice water. Immerse lobsters, heads first, in the boiling bouillon and cook for 4 minutes. Remove lobsters from the bouillon and immediately plunge them into the ice bath. Once lobsters are cold, split them in half. Leave the tail meat in the shell. Remove the heads (discard the sand sac—the dark sac with a sandy texture, which tastes quite unpleasant), reserving them for another application such as lobster bisque. Extract the meat from the claws and place in a bowl; then extract the meat from the knuckle (very tasty) and place in another bowl. Reserve the shells.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan on high heat. Add garlic and chili pepper and cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomato, the splash of white wine, lobster jus and tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add basil, parsley and cream. Add the meat from the lobster claws, then after 1 minute the tails and the meat from the knuckles. Reduce the heat to low and keep warm. Divide the meat from the claaws evenly among the reserved halved body shells.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on high heat. Add linguine and cook for 9 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Drain well in a colander, then toss with the lobster sauce.

To serve, divide pasta, half lobster tails and claw and knuckle meat among four warmed plates. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.
Preparation time: 35 minutes.
Suggested wine: Soave 2003, San Vincenzo, Anselmi, DOC, Venet, Italy

Cookbook available at Cioppino’s and Barbara Jo’s Books to Cooks.

More recipes from this cookbook here.

View videos of Cioppino’s chef, Pino Posteraro, here.