Luxurious comfort food! A rich, creamy sauce combined with two types of cheese and lobster. It takes a bit of work to prepare but is well worth the effort. If you use fresh lobsters, you can boil the pasta in the lobster juice for added flavor. If fresh lobsters are not available, you can use pre-cooked lobster as well.
Ingredients
4 cups 2% milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated
3 cups Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Lobster meat from 2 to 3 lobsters
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 cups pasta of choice
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
If you are cooking fresh lobsters, boil enough water with a teaspoon of salt in a stock pot to submerge the lobsters. Once the water is boiling, add the lobsters and cook covered for 18 minutes. Immediately remove and place in an ice bath. Reserve the liquid for the pasta. Once the lobsters are cool enough to handle, shell them in a bowl or pan that can catch all the juices that are released. Place the meat aside.
While your lobsters are cooling, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the reserved water into a smaller pot (easier to handle) and boil the pasta in the pot for 8 minutes. You don’t want the pasta fully cooked as it will continue to cook in the oven afterward.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare a roux. Melt the butter in a small pot and add the flour to make a paste. Remove it from the heat, and slowly add the milk until the flour mixture is melted into the milk. Return to the heat and cook over low heat for an additional 2 to 4 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat once again and add the cheese, salt, reserved lobster juices, and nutmeg. Stir to melt in the cheese.
Drain the pasta and mix it into the cheese mixture. Stir in the cooked lobster. Place into a baking dish and sprinkle the top with Panko bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. The top will be browned and the mixture will be bubbling.
Serves 4 to 6
Patataki 