For an early Christmas present, my father shipped out four large, live lobsters. This was seemingly an amazing gift. The only problem? I was out of town.
My husband, who received the box, was not. I am not going to lie, I was actually a little pissed when he wanted to eat them. I know it is a major waste to freeze anything that you can eat fresh, so I conceded that he enjoy just one that evening without me. Had I not been working 16 hour days I might have let him feast on the whole bunch but there is no way that I was going to work that hard and miss out on my Christmas gift too! So, he dismembered the rest of the lobsters and saved the remaining meat for us to eat when I got back.
I knew that I wanted to use them for something special but whole steamed lobster is only good fresh. So, I saved the lobsters for our New Year’s Eve meal and decided to make a lobster pot pie.
While most go out on New Year’s Eve, we are generally pretty mellow but I do like to celebrate with an especially nice dinner. The lobster pot pie was just such a treat.
I found the base for this recipe online. I looked at quite a few first. It is similar to my mac and cheese recipe but I knew since I was adding seafood, I wanted to try something a little different. The onion and garlic with the seafood added a nice touch and the peas, which were my adjustment to the recipe, gave it some color and at least a little bit of veggies with our rich dinner.
This dish is a perfect way to use frozen lobster and not feel like you are missing out. The sauce was flavorful and rich but not overly so, and the lobster chunks were a nice surprise when you bit into them.
Try this for your next special dinner. It can feed a crowd of six or two of you can just have leftovers. Enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta, cavatappi pasta
- 8 tablespoons salted butter, divided
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
- 3 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
- Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 8 ounces cooked lobster meat (from about two 1-1/2-pound lobsters), cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 cups cooked peas (frozen is fine)
- For the topping:
- Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain in a colander, set into the sink, and rinse with cold water to cool. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic; cook until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Melt remaining 5 tablespoons butter in the saucepan. Whisk in flour and stir until mixture is light golden-brown and glossy, 8 to 10 minutes. Gradually whisk cream into flour mixture, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring, until mixture is thick, creamy, and smooth, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir onion/garlic mixture, the peas and cheeses into cream mixture until melted and smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper; then gently stir in lobster and reserved pasta. Pour mixture into a 4-quart casserole and smooth the top.
- Next, make the topping: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add breadcrumbs and parsley; cook, stirring, until lightly toasted. Sprinkle evenly over casserole.Bake in preheated oven until sauce is bubbly and the top is golden-brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
