Sumptuous Buttered Lobster Pasta

This luxurious buttered lobster pasta takes an upscale protein and turns it into a fancy yet totally doable home-cooked meal. The sweet lobster chunks swim in a velvety butter sauce, giving you that fancy restaurant feel without leaving your kitchen.

I came up with this dish after we splurged on a seaside anniversary dinner where they charged almost $50 a plate for something like this. These days, we skip the restaurant and make it together at home instead, putting money back in our pockets while building kitchen memories.

What You'll Need

• Lobster tails: They give you sweet juicy meat and look impressive on the plate. Go for cold water ones with clear meat and stay away from tails with dark marks
• Fettuccine or linguine pasta: These flat noodles grab onto the smooth sauce perfectly. If you can get fresh pasta, even better
• Unsalted butter: This is the heart of our velvety sauce. Try European-style butter if you want it extra creamy
• Fresh garlic cloves: They add wonderful flavor depth. Chop them yourself instead of buying the jarred stuff for way better taste
• Heavy cream: Makes everything silky without taking over the delicate lobster flavor. Let it sit out a bit before using
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese: Brings salty richness and helps the sauce thicken up. Always grate it fresh off the block
• Fresh lemon juice and zest: They cut through all that richness with some brightness. Unwaxed organic lemons work great for zesting
• Fresh parsley: Adds pretty green flecks and fresh flavor notes. The flat-leaf kind packs more punch than curly parsley
• Red pepper flakes (optional): Just a touch brings mild heat that works well with sweet lobster meat

How To Make It

Cook the Lobster:

Get a big pot of water going with 1 tablespoon salt per quart and bring it to a full boil. Drop in your lobster tails and let them cook for 8 minutes until the shells turn bright red and the meat looks solid and white. Then pop them straight into ice water to stop them cooking more, which keeps them nice and tender.

Make Your Pasta:

Start another large pot of really salty water boiling. Toss in your pasta and cook it slightly firm, about a minute less than what the box says. Make sure to save ½ cup of the starchy cooking water before draining - this helps the sauce stick to your noodles later.

Get the Lobster Meat Out:

Once the lobster's cool enough to touch, grab some kitchen scissors and cut along the soft underside of the shell. Pull the shell open and carefully take out the meat, trying to keep it whole. Then cut it into half-inch thick pieces so each bite cooks the same and stays tender.

Start Your Sauce:

Put a large pan over medium-low heat and melt your butter until it stops foaming. Toss in your chopped garlic and cook for just 60-90 seconds until it smells good but hasn't turned brown, which would make it taste bitter. Keep the pan moving so the garlic cooks evenly.

Make It Creamy:

Pour in the heavy cream and let it bubble gently for 2-3 minutes until it gets a bit thicker. Add your Parmesan cheese bit by bit, stirring the whole time so it melts in smoothly. You want the sauce thick enough to coat a spoon but still easy to pour.

Add Some Zing:

Mix in the lemon juice and zest, stirring well. The acid balances out all that richness from the butter and cream, while the zest adds amazing aroma that lifts the whole dish.

Mix Everything Together:

Add your cooked pasta to the sauce and use tongs to mix until every noodle gets coated. If it seems too thick, splash in some of that saved pasta water a spoonful at a time. Gently fold in your lobster pieces just to warm them through without cooking them more.

Taste and Tweak:

Give it a taste and add salt and fresh black pepper as needed. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes if you want a little heat to play off the sweet lobster. The sauce should taste full and seasoned, not too salty.

Finish and Serve:

Put everything on warm plates or a big serving dish. Sprinkle lots of fresh parsley on top and maybe some extra lemon zest if you want. Serve it right away while everything's hot and the sauce is still silky.

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Good To Know

• You'll get roughly 4 ounces of meat from each lobster tail, making this dish perfectly sized for an impressive date night
• The whole thing takes under 45 minutes to make, and most of that time you're just waiting around
• You can easily double or triple this recipe for bigger gatherings - just keep the sauce-to-pasta balance the same

I've always had a soft spot for lobster. The first time I whipped up this dish was for my partner's birthday. Seeing their face light up after that first bite told me all the prep was worth it, and now we make it whenever we're celebrating something special.

Finding Great Lobster

Lobster tails from Maine or Canada usually have the sweetest, most tender meat with a clean ocean taste. Pick tails that feel heavy for their size with shiny shells, not dull ones. The meat should look see-through with a slight pinkish-blue color, never yellowish or gray which means they're old. Most importantly, they should smell fresh like the ocean, not fishy or ammonia-like which means they've gone bad.

Prep In Advance

While this dish tastes best fresh, you can get some parts ready ahead of time to make cooking easier. You can cook and shell the lobster up to a day before, keeping the meat in the fridge in a sealed container. You can also cook the garlic in butter early and put it in the fridge. When you're ready to eat, just warm up the butter mix, add the other stuff, and follow the rest of the steps. I'd cook the pasta right before serving though, so it stays just right.

Fancy Twists

Jazz up this dish with cool changes that keep it fancy. Mix in some jumbo lump crab meat with half the lobster for different textures and extra sweetness. Add a splash of brandy or cognac to the butter before the cream for a grown-up flavor kick. Try fresh tarragon instead of parsley for a French twist that works great with seafood. For a show-stopping presentation, put the lobster meat back in the split shells and serve them on top of the pasta, making it look like a high-end restaurant dish.

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Common Recipe Questions

→ Can I use frozen lobster tails for this dish?

You can definitely use frozen tails. Just let them thaw in your fridge overnight so they'll cook evenly when you're ready.

→ What type of pasta works best with the sauce?

The wide ribbons of fettuccine or linguine really grab onto the creamy sauce. But honestly, any pasta you like will work fine.

→ Can I substitute Parmesan cheese with another cheese?

You can swap in Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano if you want. They'll give you pretty much the same rich flavor.

→ How do I store leftovers?

Put any extras in a container with a tight lid and keep in your fridge for up to 2 days. When you warm it up on the stove, add a little cream or butter to freshen it up.

→ Can I make this dish spicy?

You can definitely add some heat! Just throw in red pepper flakes while cooking the sauce or sprinkle them on top before you eat.

→ Is there a substitute for heavy cream?

If you want something lighter, try half-and-half or regular milk mixed with a bit of cornstarch to make the sauce thick enough.