Seafood recipe - Lobster recipe - Lobster in tomato sauce
Lobster in Tomato sauce with Saffron rice
Ingredients
2 lobsters (about 2 lbs each) - live
25 Saffron strands soaked in ¼ cup hot water
¼ lb finely chopped onion
1 medium leek, washed and finely chopped
8 tbsp fruity olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and finely chopped
4 sun-dried tomatoes (in oil), pounded to a paste
½ cup white wine
¼ cup orange juice
1 bay leaf
salt & freshly ground pepper
½ cup finely chopped fennel
½ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
saffron rice
Preparation & Cooking Instructions
If you have live lobsters, plunge them into a pan of boiling water for 1
minute, then into cold water.
To prepare the lobsters, break off the claws and crack them open with a
hammer. Cut off the tip of the tail (with the fins), then sever the tail where
it joins the head with a heavy knife. Cut the tail into rings, slicing through
the shell between the ribs.
Split the head open lengthwise with a hard blow of a knife and remove and
discard the gritty stomach sac. Pour the coral (if any) and the green matter
(which is the liver) into a strainer over a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper,
and reserve. Put the saffron to soak.
In a heavy-bottomed pan big-enough to contain the lobsters and sauce, fry
the onion and leek gently in 3 tablespoons olive oil until translucent. Add
the garlic, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and liquid, wine, orange juice,
and bay leaf. Season and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Add the fennel, parsley, mint, saffron and liquid, and lobster tail pieces
and claws with their shells (but not the legs) and simmer, covered, for 10
minutes.
In the meantime push the coral and liver of the lobster through the strainer
and beat the purée with the remaining olive oil. When the lobster has
simmered for 10 minutes, ladle out about 1 cup sauce and beat this into the
coral purée. Pour this back into the pot, stir, and simmer for another
10 minutes. Serve with saffron rice.