This column is a follow-up to last week’s, in which I began discussing the recipes that I prepared for my cooking demonstration at The Telegraph’s annual Culinary Delights Cook-off.
Most of the dishes I prepare for our cooking demonstrations involve top-notch ingredients. But in this case, the centerpiece of my demo is a pile of leftover lobster shells I dug out of my freezer.
Pasta Fra Diavolo is a staple at most red-sauce Italian-American restaurants. And Lobster Fra Diavolo is an upscale – and usually more expensive – cousin to that dish.
Fra Diavolo, or “Brother Devil,” is essentially a spicy, hot tomato sauce used to dress various cuts of pasta. Crushed red pepper is combined with garlic, maybe some onions, oregano and tomatoes to produce a peppery sugo, or sauce, with sweetness up front, followed by a serious “kick” of peppery heat. This tomato sauce seems to work best with strands of dried spaghetti or linguine, but is hearty enough to handle tubes of penne or rigatoni.
The ingredients are few, and the process is easy. But the secret to preparing a superior sauce involves a few steps, each one done in the proper sequence. The final result is culinary bliss on a budget.
If you research all of the available recipes for Lobster Fra Diavolo, you will notice that they call for the use of whole, live lobsters. Which is great, assuming you are rich and don’t mind eating overcooked lobster meat.
What nobody tells you is that we really don’t need the lobster meat. What we are looking for is lobster flavor. And the best lobster flavor comes from lots and lots of lobster shells.
So here’s the drill: Each and every time you prepare steamed, boiled or baked lobster at home, save the leftover shells. Just tuck the cooked carapace, leg and tail shells into a plastic bag, seal it tightly and toss them into the freezer for a rainy day.
When that precipitous day arrives, pull maybe 2 pounds of shells out of the freezer, defrost them and you’re ready to make one of the most delicious pasta sauces on Earth!
There are six essential steps to making this simple sauce:
n Use a moderate heat, so you don’t burn anything.
n Saute the shells to reduce any liquids and concentrate their flavor.
n Brown and caramelize the tomato paste in order to develop a darker color and deeper, more resonant flavor.
n Simmer the tomatoes for a relatively brief period.
n Very important: Allow the sauce to sit for as little as one hour, or as long as overnight (refrigerated, of course), in order for the full, sweet flavor of the lobster to be released into the tomato base.
n Remove any extra shells from the sauce before serving, but leave a few of the lobster legs in the sauce for extra flavor and authenticity.
Don’t try to gussy this dish up by adding too much wine or other seasonings. The final sauce is naturally sweetened by the lobster and onions, and this sweetness is naturally balanced by the heat of the hot peppers and the herbaceous aroma of the final touch of fresh parsley.
All you need is a green salad with a tart vinaigrette, some crusty bread to mop up every bit of the delicious sauce and a glass of light red wine. An Italian Valpolicella, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or Chianti will do fine.
One final note: If you use crappy tomatoes, you’ll make a crappy sauce. Most American-style tomatoes are too sweet.
My preference is always for a tart, Italian-style tomato, packed whole with a touch of basil. The best buy is usually Tuttorosso-brand peeled plum tomatoes. Before pouring the contents into the pot, I take a moment to coarsely crush the whole pieces by hand.
If sodium is an issue, look for the Cento-brand of tomato puree. This is one of the few reasonably priced cans of tomatoes that is packed without any extra salt added.
LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO
Serves 8.
2 pounds lobster shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons minced garlic
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup dry white wine
2 (28- to 35-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
TO SERVE:
1 pound dried pasta
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Pull any legs off of the lobster bodies. Chop each body in half. Reserve any liquid that the shells release.
In a large, thick-bottomed pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, the lobster shells, legs and juices, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the onion is beginning to turn translucent, the juices have dried up and the shells have slightly changed color.
Add the tomato paste to the bottom of the pot, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the paste is darkly colored and almost caramelized. Add the garlic, red pepper and oregano, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the wine, and raise the heat slightly. As the wine begins to bubble, scrape the bottom of the pot to release any caramelized bits. Reduce the liquid until only a thin, dark film remains.
Add the tomatoes, stir the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste the sauce, and adjust the salt and pepper levels. Add more crushed red pepper if you want it spicier. Set the sauce aside for at least one hour before serving, to allow the flavors time to meld.
TO SERVE: Remove the larger pieces of lobster shell and body from the tomato sauce. Leave some of the lobster legs in the sauce for flavor and color. Gently reheat the sauce in a 14-inch skillet over medium-low heat.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain the pasta, and add it to the pan of hot sauce. Toss well, and serve with a generous sprinkling of chopped parsley.
Marc Bouchard, of Hudson, is executive chef at Stellina Restaurant in Watertown, Mass. Address comments or questions to him c/o Feast, The Telegraph, 17 Executive Drive, Hudson, NH 03051.
