Lobster Pasta
500k dinner: lobster pasta, mocha chocolate soufflé, preserved lemon roast broccoli. A dream summer menu for a special occasion
Ryan Nordheimer•
November 3, 2025
I had two bucket-list dishes I wanted to cook before this summer was over:
Lobster rolls
Lobster pasta
Can you tell I like lobster? If you recall, I made the former bucket-list item during my july/hamptons summer apartment café. I made mini top-split buns, dressed my lobster salad with yuzu and tarragon, and garnished the rolls with large, commanding dollops of Petrossian caviar (I swear I’m not that pretentious).
That left lobster pasta as the only item left on my long list of dishes I had to make before winter and seasonal depression set in.
I had been waiting for a special occasion. Luckily, I was on the cusp of reaching 500k Instagram followers for the past couple of weeks. And then I hit it, and convinced myself “LOBSTER PASTA TIME!” Also luckily, I was planning on going home to visit my parents, brother, and dogs. So perhaps unluckily for my dad, he paid for the lobsters. <3
I recall a lobster pasta I had in St. Tropez a couple of years ago (Jesus, maybe I do sound pretentious. And this aside also sounding pretentious isn’t helping). Actually, now that I’m recalling, I never actually got to eat this pasta. Other tables ate this pasta. We were at a small seafood shack outside of St. Tropez. To our chagrin, we learned you had to PRE-RESERVE the lobster pasta if you wanted your chance at eating it. So the waiters would carry these large platters with the most gorgeous red tresses of spaghetti that careened against crimson shells of pristine lobster onto these fortunate families’ tables. We could just watch.
So I guess I wanted to recreate the dish I never had. I envisioned the lobster pasta being adorned with fresh chives and tarragon, accentuated with herbal gin or vermouth, and finished until glossy with butter. What’s more to love?
Since it was my celebration, I called the shots on the dessert. And what’s more special than a large chocolate souffle?
Over the years I’ve learned that a lot of cooking tips that people engrain in you are incorrect. Here’s one: you don’t have to bake a souffle as soon as you prepare it. You can actually cover it with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for a couple of hours, have your dinner in the meantime, and then cook it while dinner is wrapping up. (And if you’re lazy and don’t want to spend the time cooking it after dinner, the mixture sort of sets up and becomes a chocolate mousse. You have dessert regardless). Actual truth: souffle doesn’t wait for anyone after it’s baked. You better hope everyone is ready. If not, just eat it yourself.
I had the idea to serve my souffle with an espresso creme anglaise, achieving a mocha flavor profile when expertly drizzled atop a small plate of the just-rich-enough chocolate dessert.
The dinner was quite enjoyable. I accidentally bought the wrong kind of pasta, so that was annoying. It was one of those “fresh/dried” egg pastas that cook in about 3 minutes. I never enjoy those. They always have the wrong texture and have no al dente bite. But it tasted absolutely delicious nonetheless.
I was fortunate to have been able to spend such a significant yet insignificant-upon-the-grander-scheme-of-things moment with my family. The four of us have only been able to eat together a handful of times this year. My brother and I have both gotten a lot busier. Cooking at least allows me to savor the most of it.
To another 500k,
Ryan
Hey! My name is Ryan Nordheimer. Welcome to my cooking and baking site. I’m a 25-year old home cook living in the East Village in New York City. Hopefully you enjoy my food through my own, tried-and-true recipes.
Ingredients (12)
Ingredients (12)
Instructions
Bring 1” of water to a boil in a large pot over high heat.
Place a lobster on your cutting board. Using a sharp chef’s knife, quickly insert the knife into the lobster’s head just behind its eyes and cut down to dispatch it. Repeat with the other lobster.
Alternatively, you can skip this part and place the lobsters directly into the pot. Lobsters have a very different nervous system from humans, and from my personal research lobsters may unfortunately feel some sort of pain from both methods.
Drop your lobsters (2 large) into the pot and add a tight-fitting lid. Steam the lobsters for 6-7 minutes, until the lobsters are bright red and the tails have curled up slightly.
Remove lobsters to a cutting board.
De-meat your lobster tails, claws, and knuckles (watch a YouTube video on how to do this). Wash and save a few of the more beautiful lobster tails or claws for presentation. Set the lobster meat in the fridge.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, set a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil (3 Tbsp) and when shimmering, add the shallots (1). Cook, stirring occassionally, until they are softened, about 5 minutes.
Next add the garlic (3 cloves), red pepper flakes (1 tsp), and tarragon (1 small bunch) and cook for 30 seconds.
Then add the gin (2 Tbsp) and cook out the alcohol briefly.
Dump in all the cherry tomatoes (24 oz). Season with salt (to taste). Cook, occasionally stirring and pressing down on some of the tomatoes, until the tomatoes have broken down and are jammy, about 15-20 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Season your pasta water with a large handful of kosher salt (to taste). Drop in the pasta (12 oz) and cook until al dente according to package instructions. Save 1 cup of pasta water.
Drain the pasta. Add it to the tomatoes along with the reserved lobster meat, butter (3 Tbsp), half the chives (1 small bunch), and 1/2 cup of the reserved waterpasta water. Stir well with tongs to bring all the ingredients together and melt the butter, about 2-3 minutes. Add more pasta water if necessary to keep the sauce saucy. Taste for seasoning.
Dump onto a serving platter, garnish with the remaining chives and reserved lobster shells.
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