Description
Why make Lobster Macaroni and Cheese? Why not! If you love mac ‘n cheese this is a fancy version and it’s every bit as delicious.
This all started when I was invited to give a presentation at a conference in Halifax. I was excited to attend and present, but equally as excited to enjoy the wonderful east coast specialties. Lobster is in season around Mother’s Day so this was a timely recipe to make and share.
Cooking Lobster
I’m a prairie girl so the first time I cooked a whole, live lobster it was a culinary challenge. Of course it is super easy, just boil it in salted water. The fun really starts when you need to get the lobster meat out of the shell. I suggest you visit YouTube for many excellent videos demonstrating how to do this.
If you aren’t up for the challenge don’t worry. You can buy cooked lobster and you can even buy just the lobster tail where most of the meat is anyway. We just thought it would be fun to cook the whole lobster and use the shell for a fun photo.
Lobster Macaroni and Cheese
I’m sure there are specific rules for the perfect Lobster Macaroni and Cheese but I’m not aware of them. I simply started with a basic cheese sauce, the one I use for everyday macaroni and cheese. I added some onion and garlic, used a combination of cheddar and Gruyere cheeses, folded in some lobster and that’s it. Since this is what I consider an extravagant dish it only makes good food sense to use real cream, or at least that’s how my mind works.
The sauce was so good I made a little extra. This recipe is going to give you more sauce than you need but I’m sure you’ll find a use for it like Croque Monsieur (a grilled ham and cheese with white sauce)..
Lobster for a Gourmet Dinner Club
Many years ago I attended a Gourmet Dinner Club evening with an East Coast theme. Our host grew up in Nova Scotia so had her dad bought live lobsters and shipped them to her by air. Of course you can buy live lobsters in Calgary, I get mine at Boyds Lobster Shop, but our hosts were people who take their lobster seriously.
At that dinner newspapers were spread out on the table and all the lobster paraphernalia was provided. We wore lobster bibs, everyone had their own dish of melted butter and the necessary tools to extract the lobster meat from the shells. I don’t remember the rest of the menu but I do remember her story. A story of growing up in Nova Scotia and being dirt poor. In those days lobster was considered a poor man’s food and she remembers eating lobster sandwiches every day. Fortunately that memory didn’t prevent her from hosting a fun Nova Scotia style lobster dinner.
Get The Tools
It wouldn’t be a Lobster Boil with disposable lobster bibs and lobster shelling tools.
If you’ve got a lobster story I’d love to hear it. If you’ve never cooked lobster I encourage you to give it a try. Just for fun.
More Recipes with White Sauce
Click on the text on the image to go to the recipe/blog post.
Lobster Macaroni and Cheese
Why make Lobster Macaroni and Cheese? Why not! If you love mac 'n cheese this is a fancy version and it's every bit as delicious.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped onion
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 cup cream (10% or higher)
- 1 cup milk (1% or higher)
- 1 cup crumbled, sharp cheddar cheese (half a 230g tub of sharp cheddar)
- 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
- 2 lobster tails (or 1 cooked lobster)
- 8 oz brown rice pasta
OPTIONAL CRUMB TOPPING
- ½ Tbsp butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp gluten free breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- GARNISH – fresh parsley, grated parmesan cheese and lobster shells
Instructions
LOBSTER
- Boil lobster in salted water for 15 minutes. Cool quickly by placing it in cold water. It can be refrigerated over night at this point. Remove all lobster meat, cut into bite size pieces and set aside.
CHEESE SAUCE
- In a samll saucepan melt butter on medium low heat. Add onion and garlic, sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add cornstarch, salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.
- When slightly thickened slowly pour in a third of the cream and milk, stirring constantly. Allow to thicken then add the next third of the milk. Continue to stir over medium heat until sauce thickens, add the final third and sitr until thick.
- Add cheeses and stir until melted. Set aside.
PASTA
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse.
- Pour cheese sauce over pasta, fold in lobster meat and portion into serving dishes.
- Top with crumb topping or Parmesan cheese. Place under preheated broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown topping. Garnish and serve.
Notes
Cooking Gluten Free Pasta - Learn to precisely time your pasta to cook to your liking. Rinse it to stop the cooking process and serve it as quickly as possible.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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