Grandma's Lobster Sauce

Back in early September, me and my friends May & Shana threw a Seafood Extravaganza (one of our many food theme parties that you'll be reading about). Shana created a lobster dish that's great for a crowd. More about that party another time... the point is that there were a lot of lobster carcasses at the end of the night. Some might have seen that pile of red shells as garbage, I saw it as another delicious meal. I filled three gallon-sized freezer bags and stuffed them in my freezer.

Fast forward to last night when I realized that it was time to clear up some space in the freezer. Time for Grandma's Lobster Sauce! My Grandmother, my biggest influence in the kitchen, could take any creature from the sea and turn it into a delicious red sauce. Her lobster sauce was sweet, fragrant, and glistened as it clung to the pasta.

This would be my first attempt at honoring her lobster sauce.

The sauce itself is a very simple recipe- 3 lobster carcasses, 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, chopped garlic, dried parsley, salt and pepper. Despite the simplicity, or perhaps because of it, I took extra care in my attention to the preparation so that I could make adjustments for when I make it again. Good thing... there were lessons to be learned!

I chose my tallest pot for the task (All-Clad Multi-Pot) and threw the frozen carcasses in the pot with olive oil while I chopped up the garlic. The garlic was added to the pot and left to become aromatic over low heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes were added along with almost a full can of water- swish the water between cans to get all the last bits of tomato. (I used Sclafani crushed tomatoes which were perfect for this, it's a really thick and chunky product.) Salt, pepper, parsley and a quick stir before putting the lid on the pot to bring it up to a boil.

It did not take long before my kitchen took me on an olfactory trip down memory lane. Lifting the lid of the pot after letting it boil for a bit unleashed the sweet smell of tomato and lobster. I gave it a stir, reduced the heat a bit and let it get saucy for a couple of hours.

I lifted the lid for a stir and noticed that it was not quite as sweet smelling as before. It now had a slight tang of low tide. Not quite as appetizing as before. I grabbed a colander and pulled out the lobster bodies (I left in stray legs and the tail). Once the carcasses were cool enough to handle, I split them open. To my dismay (on multiple levels) the innards were still inside the shell. By innards I mean the delicious green tomalley that would have been eaten the day the lobsters were steamed if I had known there was any left, and the cartilage sack which I honestly don't know if it's the brain or the stomach. Either way, it's bitter and the contents of two of those sacks were empty. The tomalley was sadly boiled to a spongy, tasteless mass... what a waste! And what has it done to my sauce?!?! I tasted it on a spoon and it was slightly bitter. For shame.

Let it be known that I'm no quitter. I put the 'good' parts of the lobster back into the sauce. I added a can of tomato paste and some water in an effort to let the sweetness of the tomatoes fight through the bitterness and let the sauce cook for a bit longer.

Patient that I am I let the sauce cool down before putting it in a covered bowl to refrigerate overnight and to allow the low tide aroma disappear from the kitchen.

Today, with a fresh palate, I cooked some fettuccini and heated up some sauce and sat down for a tasting. Verdict- good... pretty good even. Sweet, great tomato flavor, aromatic and thick. The bitterness had indeed subsided. And, my lesson has been learned- I will clear everything outside of the meat from the body cavity before placing in the sauce.

Now I must go put dinner on the table... fettuccini with lobster sauce, tomato oregano salad, and crusty bread... and a toast to Grandma.