1-2 hours
10 to 30 mins
Serves 2
An Italian classic made from a few simple ingredients and one whole lobster – you need the shell to get the full flavour. A perfect special meal for lovers of seafood.
By Rick Stein
Ingredients
- 1
lobster, about 800g/1lb 12oz -
salt for cooking - 100ml/3½fl oz
olive oil - 3 beefsteak
tomatoes, peeled and chopped - 1
onion, finely chopped - 1 tbsp
tomato purée - 1 red long or bell
pepper, deseeded and sliced 1cm/½in thick - ½ tsp
sea salt - 175g/6oz
spaghettini - few leaves fresh
basil, thinly sliced
Method
Freeze the raw lobster for 2 hours prior to cooking. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, salt it well (1 tsp salt to every 600ml/1 pint water) and cook the lobster for 15-20 minutes depending on size. When cooked, remove from the water, cut in half lengthways and set aside, reserving the water you cooked it in.
In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and add the tomatoes, onion, tomato puree, red pepper and sea salt, and cook for 10 minutes over a medium heat. Add 500ml of the lobster cooking liquid and the spaghettini. Cook for 10 minutes or until the spaghettini is al dente. Add the basil leaves and lobster to the pan and warm the lobster through for about 3 minutes.
Serve in a large bowl with the spaghettini in the middle and the lobster halves either side.