This dish is admittedly a splurge which I allow myself once or twice in the summertime.  Although lobsters are available yearound, it only feels right to enjoy this dish outdoors in the summer.  It’s an impressive and festive dish and, if you have the right fishmonger, can be a very simple dish to make.

It’s nice to cook the lobsters yourself but of course, this adds greatly to the preparation time, not to mention the mess.  If you have a seafood market that will cook the lobsters and remove the meat from the shells, that makes the dish infinintely easier to undertake–in fact, it makes the dish ridiculously easy.

The remaining ingredients take no time at all to prepare.   Peel and chop some ripe tomatoes (or you can use grape tomatoes, halved), slice some garlic, chop some parsley, and you’re ready to assemble the dish.

Whether to use fresh pasta or dried is always a question.  I’ve tried both fresh and dried, and I think that dried is more appropriate for this dish.  It’s essentially an oil-based sauce with a touch of tomato–fresh pasta ends up being too delicate for this sauce.

Pasta with Lobster, Chilis and Mint

serves 4

1 lb spaghetti

1 lb lobster meat, cooked, shelled and diced into 1″ chunks

3 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped into 1/2″ dice

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly

4 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 c white wine

12 mint leaves

3 tbls parsley, chopped finely

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp chili flakes (optional)

While the pasta is cooking, in a broad skillet, saute the garlic on low heat in 2 tbls oil until just beginning to color.  Turn up the heat and add the tomatoes and white wine.

Reduce for a minute, then add the lobster meat.  Add the mint leaves, chili flakes, and heat very gently until the pasta is done (you don’t want to toughen the lobster meat–just heat it through).

Toss in hot pasta, parsley and remaining tbl olive oil.  Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid.   Add salt, if necessary.

Serve with or without grated parmiggiano  (although this would be forbidden in Italy, I sometimes like it).