This gorgeous red lobster pasta sauce is flavourful, has tender lobster bits and can be eaten with any type of pasta you love. In this recipe, I use bucatini so that all of the tasty sauce gets into those holes. The lobster sauce itself is pretty simple to make and includes some colourful cherry and grape tomatoes, lobster stock as well as a dry white wine.
You do not have to use bucatini. Any other pasta should do just fine.
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Ingredients
The star of the show is obviously the lobster but all the other ingredients are just as important for this perfect red lobster sauce.
The other ingredients are:
- lobster
- tomato paste
- parsley
- mixed peppercorns
- carrots
- cherry and grape tomatoes
- parmesan cheese
- butter
- vegetable oil
- bay leaves
- dry white wine
- garlic
- onions
- red chilli powder
Instructions
The first step to making this lobster pasta is to prepare the lobster. For this recipe, I used some frozen, uncooked whole lobster which was thawed overnight. If you're using already prepared lobster then you can skip this step.
Prepping the lobster
Even though raw lobster is slightly more difficult to process, it is not impossible. First, take off the head from the lobster using a twisting motion. If the head of the lobster is too prickly to touch, hold it with a paper towel or kitchen towel. Next, cut along the underbelly of the lobster with a pair of kitchen scissors. If you do not have that, carefully use a knife. The underbelly is quite tough so do be careful.
Turn the lobster over and use the scissors to cut along the outsershell until you get to the end. Pry open the shell from both sides.
Take the shell apart to reveal the lobster flesh. Take it out of the shell, remove the digestive tract and rinse to get rid of any shells that might be stuck on the flesh. Cut the flesh into smaller pieces and keep the shells, legs, and head for a stock.
Making a quick lobster stock
All of the delicious flavours from the lobster are still in the head as well as the legs and the rest of the outer shell. To make sure that you do not waste any of that flavour, a stock is made to add to this wonderful lobster sauce.
In a pot with a bit of vegetable oil, briefly fry the lobster shells, head and legs, add water to cover and then add onions, carrots, bay leaves, tomato paste. Leave to simmer. Finally, pass through a sieve and set aside for the sauce.
The lobster sauce
To make the sauce, start by briefly frying the lobster pieces in butter and then setting them aside.
Sauteé the onions and garlic in the same pan with some oil added. Add the tomato paste and then the tomatoes.
Pour the wine into the pan and add the lobster stock and leave to simmer. Some, parsley and parmesan, red chilli powder, salt and black pepper round off and finish the sauce.
Once the sauce is almost ready, add the lobster pieces back in (we are trying to prevent the lobster from being overcooked!) and then add the bucatini along with a bit of the pasta water. Mix until the sauce has covered the pasta fully and serve.
Substitutions & Variations
- Canned lobster - fresh, whole lobster can be incredibly expensive and so canned lobster is a good alternative.
- Shrimp - an even more affordable replacement for lobster is to use some fresh or cooked shrimp.
- Chicken or beef stock - instead of making stock from lobster shells, you can use chicken or beef stock. The flavour will be different from the original recipe, however it will still be incredibly delicious.
- Creamy lobster pasta - if you would rather have creamy lobster, simply add some heavy cream or make a roux + milk.
Storage
The sauce holds up well in the freezer on its own. However I would not advise adding the pasta to the sauce and freezing. It is very easy to overheat the pasta and risk that it becomes mushy.
If you have some leftover lobster pasta and want to heat it for the next day- let it come to room temperature before heating it. That way, you do not need too much heat to warm it. Heat it for too long and the pasta can turn unnecessarily soft.
Tip
- Rubbery lobster is no fun at all. Cooked through lobster should be white in colour but not rubbery. If using fresh lobster, pan-fry the lobster for a few minutes (see recipe card) and set it aside. When the sauce is ready, Add the lobster, and the pasta and toss everything.
Other recipes you'll love are:
Easy Lobster Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 kilogramme uncooked whole lobster flesh removed and cut into smaller pieces
- Bucatini or any pasta of choice
Lobster Sauce
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 50 millilitres white wine
- 250 grams cherry and grape tomatoes halved
- mixed peppercorns or black peppercorns finely crushed , to taste
- handful parmesan grated
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder to taste
- 1 tablespoon (approximately) fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- salt to taste
Lobster Stock
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 3 medium carrots cut into chunks
- handful parsley
- 1 tablespoon mixed peppercorns
- 1 large onion quartered
- vegetable oil
Instructions
Preparing the lobster
- Twist the head off the lobster and set aside.
- Using a pair kitchen scissors, cut along the length of the underbelly. See notes 1.
- Cut along the length of the outer shell and pry it apart.
- Remove the flesh, remove the digestive tract as well as any bits shell that may be lodged in the flesh.
- Rinse in water or water with lemon juice.
- Cut along the length of the flesh and then cut into smaller pieces.
- Season with garlic, pepper and salt.
Lobster stock
- In a pot, pan fry lobster shells, head and legs for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add water to cover the contents of the pot and then add the vegetables and spices. See notes 2.
- Leave to simmer for about 45 minutes.
Lobster Sauce
- In a pan, melt the butter and fry the lobster for about 2 minutes and set aside. See notes 3.
- In the same pan add, about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and then add onions and garlic. Fry for about 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and fry for about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes as well as the wine.
- Add lobster stock and leave the sauce to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add chilli powder, black pepper parmesan and salt.
- Cook pasta for about 2 minutes shy of the recommended cooking time and save some of the pasta water.
- Add the lobster and parsley to the sauce and stir.
- Add the pasta with some the pasta water and mix until the pasta is coated beautifully with the sauce.
- Serve in a bowl with some parsley and grated parmesan on top.
Video
Notes
- The underbelly of the lobster is quite tough so do be careful when using scissors or knives in particular. The knife can easily slip and cause damage. Be careful!
- You should get about 600 ml of lobster stock. However don't worry if you get less, you can think out your sauce by adding some water or any other stock.
- The lobster does not need to be fully cooked at this point. It will go into the sauce where it will finish cooking. Just say no to overcooked lobster.
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