Italian Lobster pasta
- 1 X Rock lobster, approximately 800g in size (also known as crayfish, or Spiny lobsters) – refer to note in step 1
- 380g Linguine pasta
- 60g butter
- 2 tablespoons (40ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 100ml white wine
- 6 basil leaves, finely chopped (alternatively, use flat leaf parsley)
- Sea salt
- 2 tablespoons (40ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 2.5L cold water
- Sea salt, 4 black peppercorns
Use a large knife to cut the rock lobster in half lengthways through the head and tail. Refer to note below if you have purchased a live rock lobster. Scoop out and discard the yellow-green tomalley.
Note: If you have purchased live rock lobster, you are going to need to kill it before cooking. A good option to kill the lobster in a humane way is to freeze it for approximately 1 hour before cooking. This puts the lobster to sleep before it dies. Another option which kills the lobster instantly and painlessly is to place the lobster, belly side down onto a chopping board. Place a sharp knife’s point in between the eyes. Plunge the point of the knife in firmly to go all the way through the lobster’s head on the chopping board, then bring the blade down to finish the cut of the head. Cut through the tail so that the lobster is halved lengthways.
Remove the Rock lobster tail meat from the shell by running your knife blade between the meat and the shell. Place the lobster meat onto a chopping board and use a sharp knife to chop into bite-size pieces. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate until ready to use. Set aside the rock lobster shells for the stock.
To make the Rock lobster stock, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion. Cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the carrot and celery. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the rock lobster shells and bay leaf. Cook for 2 minutes, continuously stirring, then add the water, peppercorns and salt to taste. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a fine sieve and set aside 125ml for the Italian Lobster pasta. The remaining lobster stock can be used in a seafood risotto or soup the following day or frozen.
Place a large pot with water on high heat and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, heat the butter and olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute or until the garlic is lightly golden. Add the cherry tomatoes to the frying pan and cook for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, once the water has come to the boil, add a pinch of salt and Linguine pasta to the boiling water. Cook until just ‘al dente’ – refer to the cooking time specified in pasta packet instructions. Drain the pasta.
Add lobster to the frying pan with cherry tomatoes and season with salt to taste. Add white wine and allow to evaporate for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the hot lobster stock (125ml) and cook for a further 4 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Add the drained pasta to the frying pan with cooked tomatoes and ½ of the chopped basil. Toss well to allow the pasta to soak up the flavours of the sauce. Divide the pasta among deep serving bowls and sprinkle remaining basil on top – Buon appetito.
