I’ve never been a big fan of Lobster Mac and Cheese, mostly because I would rather just eat the lobster. On the other hand, I have never understood the absolutism of the “no cheese in a seafood dish” rule. I’ve watch Padma and Tom go nuts about this on Top Chef and it always seems like they have prejudged the dish based on the cheese and seafood combination. I have had many good dishes all around the world which pair the two successfully. So, if you are going to pair seafood with cheese, lobster mac and cheese would seem like a good way to go.

When Abby suggested this dish for the baby shower I could see the sense in it. The lobster raises the humble mac and cheese into an elegant dish which hints of luxury and honors your guests.

And of course, lobster meat is pink!

Two 1 ½ pound lobsters were purchased, cooked and the meat removed from the shell the day before I assembled the dish. There were no crackers to break the shells in the kitchen so, as with the salmon, I had to work with what I had. I am sure Tom wondered why his hammer was in the drying rack by the sink that night.

Theres always a way!

These lobsters were super meaty and it nearly killed me not to nibble away on all the luscious little bits as I cleaned them.

The next morning I grated the cheeses while the pasta cooked. It’s worth a trip to a good cheese store to get some quality cheddar, parmesan and gruyere. Anything less would be an insult to the lobster!

For this dish, I wanted to try a technique for making a cheese sauce which did not involve making a béchamel sauce (basic cream sauce thickened with flour). Ideally this should be done in a double boiler but I didn’t have one. I did have a very good, thick bottomed pot so I thought I could get away with very low heat on the burner. It worked but don’t try this if you don’t have a good pan.

I put all of the cheese in the pan along with some mascarpone and turned the heat on low. Stir it constantly and fairly rapidly so the cheese doesn’t burn or separate.

As the cheese starts to melt it will clump together

Once the cheese was starting to melt and stick together I slowly added cream, stirring the whole time. I didn’t try to get it perfectly smooth. I was afraid that if it got too hot it might separate. If that starts to happen, remove it from the heat immediately and stir in some more cream. The cheeses will melt into the sauce as it bakes.

Once the sauce is ready, taste it and add salt if needed. It probably won’t need it; the cheese is pretty salty. Toss everything together and spread it in a buttered casserole dish.

When you are ready to cook it sprinkle the top with some breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan.

Mix the breadcrumbs and parm together before sprinkling them on for an even distribution

Confession: I am convert. This was delicious. I could taste the lobster. The cheeses were lovely, gooey and melty and, without the béchamel sauce, it was a lighter version of most mac and cheeses.

LOBSTER MAC AND CHEESE

Ingredients

Two 1 ½ lb lobsters
1 lb macaroni
16 oz cheddar cheese
12 oz parmesan cheese
8 oz mascarpone
8 oz gruyere cheese
2-3 cups heavy cream
2 shallots
4 garlic cloves
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Salt

Instructions

Cook and clean the lobsters, (15 minutes in a pot of boiling water) getting as much meat from them as possible. Chop the meat and reserve.
Heat a large pot of water to a boil and salt it liberally. Cook the macaroni until just barely done according to directions on the box. Drain and reserve.
Finely chop the shallots and garlic. Sauté them in a little olive oil until they are soft. Remove from the oil and add to the lobster meat.
Grate the cheeses. Reserve ½ cup of the parmesan.
Place the remaining parmesan and the rest of the cheese and mascarpone in a double boiler. Stir them until the mixture starts to clump together. Slowly add the cream until the cheese is almost fully incorporated and the sauce is a good consistency. Taste and add salt if needed.
Toss the cheese mixture, macaroni and lobster meat together and spread in a buttered casserole dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight if needed.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the breadcrumb and reserved parmesan over the mac and cheese and cook until the cheese is bubbly and the topping has browned. This will take about an hour if starting from cold; 10-15 if cooking right away.

Spread the YUM!