Lobster Pasta, Tuscany style.

Last Summer, my husband and I went for fabulous family holidays in Tuscany, Italy, with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews. Only a few hours away from Nice, France, where we live, we stayed in the small town of Donoratico, in a former Club Med that is now owned and managed by an Italian group, and goes by the name of Paradu Tuscany Resort.

Because it is labelled eco-friendly, wooden lodges are beautifully set in the middle of local nature – and by the sea as well. The resort offered the possibility for us, four adults and two children, to stay together in the same lodge, divided in two separate room areas, but sharing the same terrasse under the olive trees.

We were lucky enough to be able to visit nearby villages located just minutes away from our eco-resort and enjoy along the way the amazing Tuscan landscapes, cypress alleys, hills and vineyards.

One afternoon, we went and visited the small ancient town of Bolgheri. It was a really hot day and all the tourists were eating ice-cream and drinking Tuscany white wine to refresh themselves. We loved the atmosphere of this village, especially because there were many artisan shops and wineries, and everyone was quite laid-back and enjoying their time. So we went back another night to have dinner in one of the best restaurants of the area.

 

Most evenings, we would eat at one of the many restaurants inside the resort. And on our last night, we got lucky enough to have our reservation confirmed at the restaurant on the beach where we ate a fabulous meal of Lobster tagliolini pasta, Tuscany style.

I can’t find tagliolini type pasta in Nice, but you should know that linguine perfectly do the job. Today is Christmas 2019, and our main dish for lunch is what you can see here: Lobster Pasta!

INGREDIENTS (for 2 pax)

• 2 raw lobsters, shelled
• 2 servings of linguine or tagliolini pasta, cooked al dente
• 1 shallot
• 2 small cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 30 grams of butter
• 10 cl of white wine
• 1 small can of lobster bisque
• 2 large tbsp of thick sour cream
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 lemon juice
• Grana Padano

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the pasta, al dente.
2. In the meantime, chop the shallot and garlic. Reserve.
3. Prepare the bisque sauce. In a small saucepan, pour the bisque and softly whisk it, then add the equivalent of a can of the pasta cooking water, when time comes to drain the pasta.
4. Drain then reserve the pasta in the pot, with a bit of cooking water too, to prevent from drying.
5. Heat a large pan and start frying the shallot and garlic with the olive oil. After 2 minutes, add some of the butter. Reserve on the side before they get brown, but try to keep some of the fat in the pan.
6. In the same pan, start cooking the lobsters. Total cooking time should be around 6-7 minutes on medium heat.
7. Deglaze with white wine.
8. Add the remaining butter in the pan.
9. Incline the pan a little, and with a large tablespoon, start basting the lobsters with the mixture of butter and wine.
10. Salt and crack fresh pepper on the lobsters, then sprinkle with lemon juice. Display each lobster on individual plates.
11. Put the shallot and garlic back into the pan.
12. Pour some of the lobster bisque into the pan to start making the lobster bisque sauce. Combine well.
13. Put the pasta in the pan and start combining so that the sauce coats it all.
14. Add the sour cream, taste and adjust the salt.
15. Serve immediately next to the lobster, and eat with delicious grated Grana Padano to taste.

Created and Written by Sophie Rebibo-Halimi. © 2019 All Rights Reserved.