Italy is my favourite holiday destination because of its mixture of great people, great destinations and great food and wine. What’s not to love about Italian food? The olive oils, the balsamic flavours, the fantastic cheeses and cured meats and we haven’t even started on pasta! All of these delectable ingredients lend themselves to tastes and sensations that remind you of the love affair that Italians have with food.
Spaghetti of Lobster Americano
One of my favourite dishes is Spaghetti all’Aragosta stile Americano (loosely translated as Spaghetti of Lobster Americano). The Italian standard bearer – spaghetti – combined with lobster. The best of land and sea.
Serves 2 as a main course
Ingredients
80g spaghetti
Good-quality olive oil
5g red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped)
5g crushed garlic
80g chopped fresh lobster meat
White wine
100g cherry tomatoes
20ml lobster bisque (either homemade or a good-quality tinned variety)
10g flat parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
For the tomato sauce
1 small white onion, finely chopped
100ml red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped)
600g tinned peeled tomatoes (San Marzano if possible)
Salt
Sugar
Method
First make the tomato sauce. In a deep pan, fry the onion in the olive oil until golden brown. Add the peeled tomatoes and cook gently for 1 hour. Season with salt and sugar.
Next, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add salt and the spaghetti. Allow the spaghetti to cook for approximately 10 minutes, occasionally stirring to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and checking the spaghetti to see if it is done. When the pasta reaches al dente, it will be firm in the middle and chewy.
In a pan, add a splash of olive oil, the chilli, the garlic and the lobster meat and lightly pan fry. Remove the contents of the pan and keep warm. Add a splash of white wine, the cherry tomatoes, lobster bisque and tomato sauce to the pan and simmer for five minutes.
Then add the cooked spaghetti and lobster meat, toss together and season to taste, finishing with the chopped parsley and some olive oil.
About the Chef
Mike Monahan, Corporate Chef
Mike joined P&O Cruises as Corporate Chef in 1994 and has been involved in all food matters since then, including working on the launches of five
P&O Cruises ships.
