Friday, December 16, 2016

She's Your Lobster Mac & Cheese Recipe


I recently bought a lobster tail with no clear intention of how I would prepare it.  Lobster seems so fancy, but would that mean it was challenging to prepare? 

The answer is no.  I did a quick Pinterest search for lobster recipes (can we all agree Pinterest is the greatest thing on the internet?) and was reminded of how much I love Lobster Mac and Cheese.  Since I didn't have the exact ingredients on hand for any of the recipes I found, I simply used a Pioneer Woman recipe as inspiration.
I'm calling my version She's Your Lobster Mac & Cheese as a tribute to the TV Show Friends.  Here's a video for reference:

I seriously loved Friends, but anyway, back to the recipe...

Ingredients:
4 oz Macaroni Shells
4 Tbsp salted butter
4 oz Lobster Tail (meat removed and chopped into chunks)
1/8 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
Ground Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper 
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan
1/3 Cup Shredded Cheddar
1/3 Cup Shredded Mozzarella
2 oz Goat Cheese

Directions:
1. Add your uncooked pasta to boiling water.  However, don't cook to al dente as you normally would.  You'll want it to be a little undercooked since the pasta will be baked as well.  I boiled my pasta for 5 minutes, drained, and set aside.


2. Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  As it melts down, add the lobster chunks.  Side note from me - breaking the lobster meat out of the shell was kinda gross.  I did it by hand, but I think scissors are the correct method.
3. You should only cook the lobster for 1 minute and then set aside.  Similar to shrimp, lobster doesn't take long to prepare.  Plus, you are going to bake the lobster as well.

4. Speaking of baking, go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees at this point.
5. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter to the skillet.  Slowly add in the flour and whisk to combine.  You are making your roux which is one of my favorite cooking words.  It is just fancy for thickening. 

6. After about one minute, add the milk and continue to whisk.  The sauce will bubble and you need to stay focused on whisking it for about three minutes so it doesn't stick to the skillet or get chunky.
7. Add your salt and pepper to taste. 
8. Add your cheeses and stir to combine.  You should have a beautiful, bubbly creation at this point.
9. Add the lobster and pasta to your skillet and stir so that the sauce covers everything.

10. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and top with a little bit more Parmesan.  Bread crumbs would be tasty here, too!
11.  Bake for 20 minutes. 


I was very pleased with how my recipe turned out.  So tasty and comparable to the restaurant varieties I've tried before.  I paired it with broccoli to try to balance out all the carbs and dairy.  I'm excited I finally cooked lobster.  What should I try next?
 
Close up for your viewing pleasure

 




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