Romantic Dinner Ideas – We all need one from time to time. And what’s more romantic than a dish that contains lobster. Pair this Lobster in a Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce served over pasta. With a really nice bottle of Fine Wine. And you are in for a really good start to a romantic night.
Romantic Dinner Ideas – This One Has Lobster And Paired With Wine
Shrimp is another great seafood to substitute for the lobster. This bold tasting sauce will go good with other types of proteins as well. Chicken, for instance, goes geat in this Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce. The Chicken will take on the flavors from the sauce. What’s nice about seafood is it will impart a great sea taste into the sauce. Unlike the Chicken.
What You Will Need.
2 lobsters Live
Whole Butter
1 Garlic clove Minced
1 Shallot Minced
Marinara Sauce
Parmesan Cheese
Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Vodka
White Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
First: Precook The lobster
This is the part most people don’t like to do. Make sure you have a pot big enough for the water and the lobsters. Because you want enough water boiling. So that when you add the lobster it does not cool down the water. If you don’t have one you can cook one at a time. Add the lobsters (and no they don’t scream) when your water is at a rolling boil. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes (or until they are red and the tails snapback).
I take the cooked lobster and immediate shock them. Which is nothing more than placing them into ice water to stop the cooking. Once cool you will want to remove all the meat from the 2 lobsters. you can do all this ahead of time and refrigerate till you are ready to assemble the entire dish.
***Tip take the shells after removing the meat. Boil them in a little water. This will make a good seafood stock. You can use in other dishes. (Shrimp Shells will work well also).
Time To Start Making The Vodka Sauce.
You want to heat up a saute pan to start the sauce. I like using medium high heat for this step. Add the bacon to render out the fat and impart the bacon flavor into the dish. You might find you will need a little butter to help (which is fine what goes better than butter and lobster). When the bacon is nearly done go ahead and add the shallots and garlic.
Cook all this together till all the flavors combine. This wont take to long and there is really no way to know. so just cook till everything is soft. But be careful not to burn the garlic (another reason to use medium high heat). Cooked garlic has a great flavor where burnt galic is horrible.
Add The Lobster And Build The
Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce
To begin with, you will just want to add the claw and knuckle meat to the bacon, shallots, and garlic. I add the tail meat near the very end. Because you don’t want them to overcook. Cook the claws and knuckles till they just start to sizzle. When this happens you want to De Glaze the pan with the vodka. Be careful as the alcohol can flame up. ***Don’t worry if you serving someone who does not drink. The alcohol will burn off just leaving the flavor behind.
Once the Alcohol is cooked off you can add the Marinara sauce. Homemade is best if you have some. If not a good jarred sauce will work (about half a jar will serve 2). Cook all this together on low for a few minutes. Because that will allow all the flavors can meld together. Now stir in the Tail meat.
While The Sauce Cooks The Last Few Minutes.
Linguini or Bucatini is my chose of pasta for a dish like this. they both tend to hold the sauce better than traditional spaghetti. I hate telling people how to cook their pasta I go 8 to 10 minutes in rapidly boiling salted water. Till it is just underdone. Drain the pasta ***Never rinse your pasta the starch helps thicken sauces and lets it adhere to the pasta better.
Time To Bring It All Together.
After your sauce has simmered on low for a few minutes. And the pasta is almost done. Keep the sauce on low and stir in 1/3 cups heavy cream. And fold the cream in. Depending on your taste you can use more or less. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. You can add some Parmesan Cheese now. Or I like to drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. And top with the parmesan cheese. This is all up to you.
I Would Pair It With A Nice Bright And Light White Wine.
A nice White will really bring out the lobster and cheese aspects of the dish. And as part of our Wine Of The Month Club, you have some really nice Nappa and Sonoma Valley wines to choose from. You can also go the Red wine route and choose one that will really accent the Sauce. Either way, you go will be the right way.
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