Aragosta Alla Brace Algheritana Recipes

ARAGOSTA ALLA BRACE ALGHERITANA

Steps:

• Begin by building a fire of charcoal and fragrant woods-grapevine cuttings, olive wood, oak, or applewood, for example.
• Bring the seawater or the water and sea salt to a galloping boil over a lively flame. Give each lobster-one at a time-a 1-minute immersion in the boiling water, lifting each one out to rest while the fire builds. Finally, about 4 inches above white, cindery heat, grill the lobsters whole, turning them almost constantly, for 12 to 15 minutes-not a second more. In a single, sure movement, and with a large and very sharp knife, cut from head to tail, separating each lobster in two. Remove the roe and the tomalley. (Mix the roe, if you've roasted female lobsters, and the tomalley with a bit of softened, sweet butter, smearing the savory salve on hot bread for the cook's merendina.)
• Position the lobster halves on a warmed tray or plate and spread them with spoonfuls of the sauce.
• Dry-roast the red pepper in the oven, or grill it over a wood fire or over a gas flame, turning it until its skin is deeply, completely charred. Place the blackened pepper in a paper bag to steam and cool for 20 minutes.
• In a small sauté pan, warm 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and quickly toast the almonds, tossing them about until they are of a dark golden color. Set them aside to cool.
• Prepare the saffron by pan-roasting the threads over a medium flame for 30 seconds or so before adding the red wine and allowing it to heat nearly to the boil. Stir the saffron, melting it in the heated wine. Cover the pan and allow the saffron to steep for 20 minutes.
• Remove the pepper from the sack, pulling off its charred skin, scraping away its seeds and chopping it roughly.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, construct the sauce by processing the almonds, the red pepper, the sun-dried tomatoes, the garlic cloves, the chile pepper, and the red wine vinegar for 30 seconds or until the elements are well amalgamated but distinct texture still remains. Scrape the work bowl.
• With the machine running, begin adding olive oil in a very thin stream, not much more than droplets at a time, approximately 1/4 to 1/3 cup-just enough to bind the sauce into a rather loose paste.
• Turn the sauce out into a bowl and begin beating in the saffroned wine, a teaspoon at a time, tasting the sauce after each addition. Stop when the saffron has gently illuminated, integrated the other flavors-when a touch of it on the tongue is all at once sweet, salty, sour, piquant, and with a hushed sort of bitterness at its finish. Dosing the saffron in this manner is good prevention against an acrid-tasting dish.
• Allow the sauce to rest an hour or two before presenting it with the just-roasted lobsters. The sauce is lovely tossed with malloreddus di Desulo (page 234) or with charred, wood-scented meat or fish.

LOBSTER CATALAN (ARAGOSTA ALLA CATALANA), REVISITED

Steps:

• In a small, non-reactive bowl, toss together the onion, vinegar and and few pinches of salt. Set aside to lightly pickle for at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours.
• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook the lobsters in it for 12 minutes. Remove them from the pot and, when cool enough to handle, twist off and crack open the tails, using a kitchen towel to protect your hands.
• Remove the lobster roe (if available) from the place where the tail met the body. It is a coral-red bundle of tiny eggs. As best you can, delicately separate the eggs, taking care not to crush them, and set aside in a small bowl. Remove as much of the tomalley-the greenish substance found alongside the roe and possibly also in the head, that acts as the lobster's liver and pancreas, and which is quite delicious-and add it to the bowl with the roe.
• Remove the meat from the shell and coarsely chop it. Remove the claws, crack them and extract the meat. Extract as much of the knuckle and body meat as possible. Arrange all of the lobster meat on a serving platter or in a serving bowl, cover and chill.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise and salt to taste. Fold in the reserved lobster roe and tomalley, taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.
• When ready to serve, scatter the pickled onions and the tomatoes over the lobster. Pour the dressing mixture over the lobster and vegetables, and serve immediately.