Lobster Linguine with Lemon Cream Sauce

Father's Day lobsters get used in a delicious make-over dinner that is elegant enough to serve invited dinner guests for a meal or perhaps as a smaller appetizer size for a tasting party.

We are fortunate to have our local grocery store sell lobsters and sometimes at a price far lower than local seafood markets. That's when we take advantage of having lobster. I spent less on these lobsters for fathers day than I would have making say a prime rib dinner. Add in the fact that we normally dine on chicken or pork and sometimes beef, these lobsters were extremely welcomed for dinner.

My husband was thrilled to have this dinner but we were not able to finish all that I cooked. Turning lobster into another meal is pretty easy. I've made some traditional Lobster Rolls and Lobster Macaroni and Cheese and even some out of this world delicious Lobster Risotto here at Cooking On A Budget. This time I wanted to do something different. My recent craving for something pasta sealed the deal.

The meat from three claws and two tails got picked out and cleaned up to go into this simple and savory pasta meal.

For the lobster:

• 1 1/4 lbs. lobster meat
• 1/3 box linguine pasta - cooked to manufacturers directions el dente
• 1 cup seafood stock (shrimp, lobster or the boxed variety)
• 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tbsp. shallot - minced
• 2 small cloves garlic - minced
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp. fresh dill
• 2 tbsp.heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 tsp. olive oil

1. Pick out your lobster meat and cut into bite size pieces.
2. Prepare your linguine, draining and RESERVING one half cup of cooking liquid. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, allow the pan to heat up for a minute and add in the butter and olive oil. To that add the shallot and garlic. Stir until the shallots softens.
4. Add in the white wine and cook and reduce by half.
5. Next, add in the lemon juice, the reserved pasta water and the seafood stock along with the fresh herbs. Cook for a few minutes to allow evaporation and concentration of the flavors.
6. Turn the heat down to low, stir in the cream and add in the pieces of lobster and the spinach. The recipe for the spinach immediately follows.
7. Add the pasta to the pan and stir and cook until both the pasta and lobster are completely warmed through.

If you are serving as a plated dinner you can add in the spinach to the pan as well or serve along the side. The how to follows below.

For the spinach:

• 1 bag baby spinach
• 1 large clove garlic minced
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

1. Wash your spinach and drain well. Prep your garlic and lemon juice.
2. Heat up a skillet over medium heat and add in the oil, garlic and crushed red pepper. Stir and cook for about 30 seconds.
3. Add in the spinach with salt and black pepper to taste. Stir and when the spinach is wilted turn off the heat.

How easy was that? Serves 4 nice dinner portions or about 8-10 appetizer tasting portions.

I really liked using the scallop shells I got from a local seafood market to put this out as a tasting menu type appetizer.

The rich flavor of lobster, a nice background heat from the crushed pepper flakes, the stock with cream and a little acidity from the lemon along with a hint of garlic combines creating a taste explosion in your mouth! The spinach adds another dimension to the dish as well as its healthy properties.

It doesn't have to be left-over lobster to make this dinner. Start with freshly cooked lobsters if you so choose. This dish doesn't take a long time to prep or cook; I think I spent about an hour from start to finish.

If you love lobster, check out these other LOBSTER recipes:

Lobster Risotto

New England Lobsta Roll

Lobsta Mac 'n Cheese