Lobster mac and cheese, now mac and cheese can’t get fancier than this so creamy and delicious with lobster in every bite and a crispy baked topping. Restaurant style dish made without much effort! Lobster is a splurge anyway so why not impress your guest with a game changer recipe. You can substitute lobster with any other shell fish of your choice, crab, shrimp etc would taste equally good with this recipe. Thanks to all the internet chefs for introducing me to this top notch one.
Perks of living in New England are fresh live juicy lobster directly from Maine and the best grocer nearby, who steams it at no extra cost. Okay! I got to admit I am yet to muster courage to steam a live one at home but that doesn’t stop me from de shelling it like a pro nor making crowd pleasing dishes. Here is another EPIC lobster dish we make during holidays that got really good reviews.
Cheese sauce : Should it be made separately?
While most recipes call for a separate cheese sauce to mix pasta with I find that dumping the grated cheese into the pasta and stirring well does the job. The heat from the pasta melts the cheese beautifully making a nice creamy sauce eliminating one more pan to wash.
Use more pasta boiled water if u need a liquidy consistency after final bake and go with my recipe if u like a semi dry one.
Note: If fresh lobster is not available use frozen ones or just the tail meat.
Ingredients :
Lobster – 2 (cooked) you can use frozen too
To cook pasta :
Penne pasta – 3 cups ( Any tubular pasta can be used)
Olive oil – 1-2 tsp
Salt
Cheese sauce part :
Butter – 1 tbsp
Parsley leaves chopped – little
Gruyere cheese – 1 cup
Sharp cheddar grated – 1 cup
Sour cream – 1 tbsp
Garlic powder – 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
For crisp topping :
Butter – 1 tbsp melted
Bread crumbs (use panko if u have)
Paprika powder – 1 tsp
Chopped parsley leaves
Method :
Cook the pasta as per package instructions on stove top or use instant pot.
To cook pasta in instant pot :
Add the 3 cups o pasta into the Instant pot and add 4 1/2 cups of water. Drizzle a little olive oil and add some salt give it a good stir. Close the lid and cook it to desired softness. (Reduce cooking time to 2-3 minutes if you do not like the pasta really soft) I like slightly overcooked pasta.
TO COOK –PRESS MANUAL MODE– 5 MINUTES
After natural pressure release (takes 10 – 12 minutes ) open the lid.Drain the excess water and retain 1/2 cup water or so in it.
For the cheese sauce part:
Immediately add butter, parsley leaves, 3/4 th of gruyere cheese, 3/4 th of sharp cheddar cheese, sour cream, garlic powder salt and pepper. mix thoroughly until everything is well combined. It may look slightly watery that is fine. it will dry up as it sits in the oven.
Now prepare the topping:
Microwave to melt the butter
Into the melted butter add the breadcrumbs stir it well then add the paprika powder, parsley leaves chopped, remaining cheeses.
Grease the individual serving baking dishes with butter then fill each one to 2/3 with pasta mixture, add the lobster chunks to it by evenly distributing in the dish.
Spread the bread mixture on top of each dish and set a claw on top of it.
Bake the lobster Mac n cheese on 400 ° Fahrenheit for 10 -15 minutes until the top is brown.
As soon as it comes out of the oven brush the top of the lobster claw with some olive oil so it will not dry out.
Serve the lobster Mac and cheese immediately. It tastes awesome just by itself as a full meal but it could be served with some green salad, corn salad and some watermelon to finish off.
Hope you like it.
Meena