Recipe: Fettuccine with Lobster alla Pantelleria

Cookbook

Fettuccine with
Lobster alla Pantelleria

Serves 4

Fettuecine with Lobster Sicilian flavors are an interesting amalgamation of North Africa and southern Europe, and the cooking of the tiny island of Pantelleria is even more exotic. The world's best capers are grown on Pantelleria, so most dishes evoking its name will contain them. Ask your fishmonger for female lobsters; the bright red coral, or roe, adds great color to the dish.

Two 1-1/2-pound lobsters, steamed and cooled,
or 3/4 pound cooked lobster meat
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup parsely leaves
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup capers, rinsed well and drained
4 medium plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed
10 ounces dried fettuccine

Bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil and add about 2 tablespoons salt.

Crack the lobster shells and remove the meat and coral, if any. Cut the tail into 1/2-inch pieces and the claws into thirds. Set aside the tomalley.

In a blender; purée the mint, basil, parsley, garlic, capers, tomatoes, red pep per flakes, black pepper and olive oil to form smooth paste. If needed, add little more oil. Combine this with the lobster meat, coral, and tomalley in a large serving bowl.

Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions, until tender but still dente, and drain well. Add the hot pasta to the bowl with the lobster and toss like a salad until well mixed. Serve immediately.

Mario Batali Simple Italian Food:
Recipes from My Two Villages
By Mario Batali
Clarkson Potter/Publishers
Hardback, Price: $30.00
288 pages, 32 full-color photographs
ISBN: 0-609-60300-0
Recipe Reprinted by permission.