Special occasions call for a bubbling bowl of Omar Allibhoy’s lobster and saffron pasta stew
“This dish is a real showstopper in terms of flavour. After I cooked it in under 8 minutes on national TV, all the guests were asking me, ‘How did you make something so good in 8 minutes?’ They couldn’t believe it.
Lobster is not cheap but for a special occasion, give this recipe a go.”
Ingredients
• 400ml fresh fish stockor 1 fish stock cube dissolved in 400ml water
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 dried cayenne pepper, (or any other dried red chilli pepper)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lobster
• 12 roasted almonds, peeled
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 salted anchovy
• 1 teaspoon tomato puree, (paste)
• 25ml brandy
• 25ml white wine
• 1 piece dark (bittersweet) chocolate
• 100g thin 3-minute spaghetti, Broken into 3cm pieces
• 3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Bring the fish stock to the boil in a large pan over a high heat and add the saffron. Allow to infuse for 10 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, pour the olive oil into a frying pan over a high heat and add the onion, cayenne pepper and bay leaf. Let it sizzle for a couple of minutes.
3 To prepare the lobster, cut the head in half lengthways and separate the head from the tail. Cut the tail horizontally into 2-cm pieces. Twist o the claws but leave them whole.
4 Add all the pieces to the pan.
5 Tip the almonds, breadcrumbs, garlic, anchovy and tomato purée into a small food processor and blend to a paste. Add to the pan.
6 Stir the pan for 1 minute and then flambé with the brandy and white wine. To do this, slowly tilt the pan towards the flame until the brandy catches, or light with a match.
7 Let the flames flare up then die down and then add the boiling saffron-infused fish stock, the chocolate and pasta.
8 Season with salt and pepper and leave to boil for 3 minutes until the pasta is al dente, the lobster is perfectly cooked and the clams have opened.
9 Garnish with the parsley and serve.
Recipe courtesy of Omar Allibhoy, extracted from Spanish Made Simple
