Quick Linguine with Lobster

Lobster pasta has always been one of my favourite dishes to order in restaurants, but I've always been too nervous to make it myself.  I came across a recipe for lobster linguine by Antonio Carluccio in his cookbook and wanted to give it a try, but decided to adapt it to make a quicker and simpler version.  Here's my version:

Ingredients:

One large cooked lobster (approx 1.25kg)
700g tomatoes - skinned, de-seeded and chopped
100ml white wine
90ml olive oil
400g linguine
1 clove minced garlic (I used 1tsp of ready-minced garlic)
chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)

Method:

1. Get the claw and tail meat out of the lobster and chop into chunks.  If you are unsure how to do this, you can look on youtube, ask your fishmonger to do it for you, or just hack away until you get it all out (this is the option i went for, but I wouldn't recommend it!)
2. heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.  Don't let it brown.   Add the wine and let it boil for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate.  Then stir in the tomatoes and let simmer for 10 minutes to reduce.  Add the lobster to the sauce mixture to heat through.


3. Meanwhile, boil the linguine according to instructions in a pot of salted water.
4. When the linguine is cooked, drain and then add to the sauce and mix together.  Sprinkle over the parsley and serve.

if you prefer creamier sauces, you can add a dash of cream at the end a couple of minutes before adding the linguine. 

Valentine's Day Brunch

This year, my husband and I decided not to do any gifts for Valentine's Day so instead I decided to make us a nice brunch family of pancakes, heart-shaped fried egg toasts, fresh berries, freshly brewed coffee and fruit infused water.  

It was my first time making pancakes from scratch and after a few questionable ones I think I managed to get the hang of it.  Next time I'm going to add some vanilla extract to the batter as I think it could have done with a little more sweetness.