Lobster Linguine with Lemon Garlic Sauce
This Lobster Linguine and Lemon Garlic Sauce is surprisingly easy to make, and it’s packed with delicious flavor!
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What are some of your favorite hobbies? (Watching tv doesn’t count!) Everyone has a hobby, right? When I was a kid, it was collecting baseball cards. And then it was building model trains. (I really am a nerd.) A couple of months ago, I was chatting with one of my curling teammates, and it turns out he does a bunch of woodworking. I feel like I know the guys I curl with pretty well, but I was still surprised by this one.
We were over at his house for his son’s birthday party, and he showed me his ‘workshop’ down in the basement. He’s built all sorts of cool things for his son, including a rocket ship rail for the side of his bed. I remember having a rail on my bed when I was a kid. It was an old metal contraption that stuck under the mattress and then had rails on each side. It essentially kept me from rolling out and bonking my head in the middle of the night. This rocket ship version was pretty awesome though. Same concept. Except the “rails” were just a piece of plywood cut and painted like a rocket ship. Talk about embracing a kid’s imagination right there! Heck, I kinda want rocket ship rails on my adult bed.
At the end of curling season last year, this same buddy asked me to swing by his car before I left the club. He told me he had something for me. I was like, “Uh, ok?” Turns out he made Robbie this life-sized ruler. Laura and I had seen this mounted in his kitchen when we were visiting, and we both commented how cool it was. So he just went and made one for us! It’s essentially stained wood, but he used a woodburner to burn the numbers and lines onto the ruler. We’ve started marking Robbie’s height every 6 months, and the best part is we can take this ruler with us whenever we move. Woodworking has never been my forte, and I’m pretty much in awe of anyone who can create stuff like this!
Food, however? That’s my thing! I love making anything and everything in the kitchen…hence the food blog! I’m always taking food to the curling club (like this Pull-Apart Monkey Bread), and Laura and I took dinner over to our woodworking friend when he and his wife had their second son a couple of months ago. What can I say? I show appreciation via food.
Pasta has always been one of my favorite dishes, and I’m never one to turn away a good pasta + red sauce. But I also enjoy other sauces, too. Take this Lobster Linguine with Lemon Garlic Sauce for instance. The sauce itself is thin and just coats the pasta as opposed to getting poured on top. And the flavor comes both from the lemon and garlic as well as the lobster shells. Lobster tails have a surprisingly small amount of meat in them, but don’t let that dissuade you here. Cooking the tails in the broth (even for just a couple of minutes) imparts a ton of flavor into the sauce. Laura has always loved linguine, so this Lobster Linguine with Lemon Garlic Sauce was right up her alley. Me? I love all pasta, regardless of shape!
Do you guys cook lobster at home very often? We don’t. For starters, it’s a bit on the pricey side. But our grocery store had frozen lobster tails on sale the other day, so I decided to go for it. And like I mentioned above, the seafood flavor really comes though in this dish…even if the actual meat doesn’t! The sauce for this Lobster Linguine is nice and simple. It’s essentially garlic, lemon zest and white wine. A classic combination with a ton of flavor! So if you stumble across lobster tails on sale, give ’em a shot! Or honestly, this pasta would taste delicious topped with a nice piece of salmon or some scallops. Enjoy!
Lobster Linguine with Lemon Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 16-oz. package linguine
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup white onion diced
- 1½ tsp garlic minced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1½ cups dry white wine i.e. Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 3 5-oz. lobster tails
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest ~2 large lemons
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup Italian parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
- Meanwhile, using a deep sauté pan, add olive oil and place over medium heat. Once hot, add onions, garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes. Add wine and chicken stock; bring to a boil.
- Add lobster tails, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until lobster completely cooked. Remove meat from lobster tails and chop; set aside.
- Add cream, butter, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Continue cooking over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and add Parmesan, parsley, cooked lobster and cooked linguine; toss until well combined. If needed, add a bit of the reserved pasta water to loosen the pasta when stirring together.
That ruler is so cool! My mom still has the growth chart she used for us when we were growing up, but it’s falling apart now. I’m thinking the ruler will last a lot longer. Aside from anything food-related, knitting is my favorite hobby. I should probably find a new one though, since it’s too hot here for sweaters :). This linguine looks sooo good! I’ve never actually made lobster because I’d hate to mess up an expensive ingredient. But I might just have to try!
Yeah, that ruler should last quite a while. Now that I think about it, I guess Robbie is going to have to haul this thing around with him as he gets older. Haha! I mean, who says you have to stop marking your height?
So you knit, eh? One of my curling friends is a big knitter, and she’s always knitting away between games. But curling and knitting seem to make sense together…a little bit different than Arizona and knitting. Yet another reason to bring Cookie to see the northeast! Do you miss apple cider doughnuts? 🙂 Anyways, yes to lobster! I’m like you. I don’t make it much, but the lobster tails totally worked here. Not a lot of meat, but a ton of great flavor. Give it a shot sometime when you’re up for something new!
Ok, you had me at “Lobster”, but add lemon and garlic, and I’m swooning! This dish sounds amazing! I do love that ruler, too! That is a great way to have a permanent record for your kiddos!!
Oh man, there is so much good flavor going on in this pasta, Laura! I was a little disappointed in the amount of actual lobster meat in the tails, but the flavor comes through thanks to adding the shells to the sauce. Mmmm. 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend!
Hi David! What a elegant and yet simple dish! This has date night written all over it. If lobster is too expensive, I think scallops would be a good substitute…what do you think?
Scallops would be an excellent substitute here! And in fact, I think shrimp would totally work, too. Basically whatever seafood is on super sale at the grocery store should be able to work. We happened to find lobster tails on buy one-get one, so that’s why I decided to give this one a run with lobster. Not as much meat as I expected, but still a ton of delicious flavor! Thanks so much, Dorothy!!
OK, I want to say this only because when I make these proclamations they usually get overturned once I tell you. I don’t love lobster! lol here we go, I’m sure I will have the best lobster sometime soon and then I’ll have to retract my statement. This linguine looks delicious.
Hahaha…oh, Mary! I keep making all sorts of dishes with ingredients that aren’t on your list of favorites. I get it, though. I actually don’t like traditional lobster, either. But serving the meat in pasta like this? Yum! There wasn’t as much meat as I expected in the tails, but the flavor really comes out thanks to adding the shells in the sauce while it cooked. But you could totally use shrimp or even scallops instead here! There’s always options…that’s what I find so fun about cooking! 🙂
Hobbies? If I answer “food and food photography”, I guess you won’t be surprised, David? But the truth is either I’m a boring person or I just don’t have much time, blog has been the only one hobby lately. I like showing my appreciation via food too. Edible Christmas and birthday gifts is my thing. Unfortunately, we don’t have many friends in Canada, so I don’t have as many people to hand in these edible gifts as I used to. Do you know anyone by any chance?:) Anyway, I’m a pasta boy too so this version sounds and looks fantastic. And I’ve never made lobster pasta. Well, probably one day I will live near the ocean so have available and cheap enough lobsters/tails.
Haha! I get it, Ben. Food and food photography is totally a hobby here, too. But sometimes I have to break away and think about something else besides food. (Shocking, I know!) So if you are looking for someone to share food with, I can recommend a couple of people. They are all named David, by the way. Funny how that works! 🙂
So we don’t live near the ocean, but we were lucky enough to stumble across frozen lobster tails on sale at the grocery store. I decided to give this pasta a shot with those tails, and it totally worked! There wasn’t as much meat in the tails as I expected, but the sauce has tons of flavor thanks to putting the shells in the sauce while it simmered. Yum!! (You could totally use shrimp or scallops here, too…whatever happens to be on sale!)
I love the ruler it really is so cool. Right now my hobby is my blog. I don’t have enough time for anything else between my day job and blogging. I have never cooked lobster at home, but I would love to try your lobster linguine. It looks amazing!
Oh, I totally understand, Dawn! Writing a blog takes a lot of time. But at least it’s fun, right? 🙂 I often find myself thinking about food and photography even when I’m not working on the blog. I love it! So do give lobster a try. We don’t make lobster here very often, but the tails were super easy to use. (Plus, they come frozen so it’s easier to plan ahead.) There wasn’t as much meat as I expected in the tails, but putting the shells in the sauce while it simmered led to a ton of good lobster flavor in the overall dish. But you could totally use shrimp instead if it’s on sale!
That ruler is super cool!! As for hobbies, definitely cooking/the blog. Other than that, I have so many things that I’m interested in and wish I had more time for, like playing the piano and reading. If there were only more hours in the day!!
We don’t often cook lobster at home, either. Like you said, it’s quite pricey and it’s not something I think of, though I do enjoy it! Funny thing! This looks delicious, though, and love the freshness from the lemon. And you really can’t go wrong with pasta 😉
Hey there, Dawn! I’m right there with ya on the food and photography side of things when it comes to hobbies. I often find myself thinking about food even when I’m not working on the blog. Kinda funny how that works, right? 🙂 But, yes, I often wish there were more hours in the day! Laura plays piano, but I’ve never been able to tackle the musical thing…perhaps it’s because I have no rhythm whatsoever. Hah! Anyways, I was quite pleased with this dish. Lobster is definitely not high on our list, but I stumbled across it on BOGO, so I decided to give it a shot. Not as much meat as I expected, but putting the shells into the sauce led to a ton of great flavor. And the fresh lemon is key! Thanks so much for swinging by, my friend!
I dont see where the lemon is added. Its first thing in the morning, and I havent finished my coffee. 😏 Maybe I just missed it…?
Hey Suzanne! The lemon flavor comes in with the lemon zest that gets added in step #4 with the cream, butter, salt and pepper. I hope you get a chance to make this recipe…it’s a really tasty one! 🙂
Model trains as well eh David? Well if you make it to Scotland next year, and I still have my train set (I’m going to look to sell it soon as it’s been sitting gathering dust in a cupboard for years) we should set it up and both be train nerds! Ha ha!
I’m so glad you cooked the lobster tails in with the sauce to extract maximum flavour David. What a delicious dish my friend, this is absolute restuarant quality excelled!
And I LOVE that ruler! 🙂
Another train nerd! That is so awesome, Neil! 🙂 To be honest, I have these grand visions of setting my trains up somewhere, but I just don’t have the room right now. Maybe as Robbie gets older, though? Right now, they’re just all packed up in bubble pack in boxes.
So lobster tails are certainly not high on our list as they can be rather pricey. But we got lucky with a buy one-get one free sale, so I picked up a couple and used ’em in this pasta. Not nearly as much meat as I was expected, but the flavor from the shells really comes through. Thanks, my friend!!
My hobbies kept changing over the years. I used to sketch, collect stamps and coins as a kid. I still have the stamps album but gave away the coins.Then my interest shift to arts and crafts, it still is. I am a creative person. I single-handedly planned the gym decor for my daughter’s graduation party. Cooking was always my hobby. Other than that I have so many interests. I love doing yoga, gardening, listening to music, going for walks etc.
I don’t cook lobster or crab at home but do love it, eating in a restaurant. This looks totally fabulous!
Wow, I have always been so impressed by folks with an artistic talent, Balvinder! I have no talent at all when it comes to art. For me, cooking and gardening have always been pretty high on the list. That, and watching sports…if that counts as a hobby. 🙂
I totally understanding not cooking lobster or crab at home. We rarely do it ourselves! But this one turned out great, and it could totally be done with shrimp if you cook shrimp at home. Thanks for the comment, my friend!
hmm I used to collect stamps when I was kid, otherwise I never really had a hobby..don’t think watching movies count! lol…of course later in life cooking and baking became my hobby but then it became a profession! You could say I am pretty boring that way..haha..
I love the sound of the sauce, lemon is so good in pasta sauces!
I never got into collecting stamps, but it always seemed kinda cool. I see those stamp collecting books at the post office, and it always makes me wish I collected stamps. But I have to draw the line somewhere! And for the record, I think watching movies totally counts! I bet you are a great teammate for movie trivia, Manali! 🙂
Thanks so much for the kind words about this dish. The lemon garlic sauce is so darned tasty!!
I love pasta so much! I can eat it anyway, as long as it tastes good, I’m down! This looks really delicious! Ps I love the idea of the ruler. We measure my son at his grandparents house against the wall and allow Luca to use the measuring tape himself, he loves it!
I totally agree, Johlene! Pasta is one of our favorites around here, too, and when I stumbled across the lobster tails in the grocery store, I decided to give it a go. And it was super tasty! 🙂 Thanks for the ruler comment, too…I love it, and I know Robbie will too as he grows up!
Keith and I love to mountain bike! Does that count as a hobby?
That ruler, David! It’s absolutely beautiful…as is this linguine. It’s just the kind of meal we love to make on a busy weeknight – the trifecta of comforting, delicious and easy!!
Yes! Mountain biking totally counts as a hobby! I remember mountain biking as a kid at summer camp, but I haven’t been back out since then. (We have regular road bikes, but even those are hard to pull out now that we have Robbie. One day…one day!) Thanks so much for the kind words, Marissa! 🙂
Lobster, pasta, lemon, garlic … all my favorite things in one dish! Work in some vodka, and my head will explode.
Hey, you could totally add a splash of vodka in there for fun. Or maybe just pour yourself a glass next to your dinner. But please no exploding heads…it’s not Halloween yet, Jeff!
love how decadent this sounds! perfect for a special occasion, or even after a rough day when all you want is pasta (: also, had no idea that you curled! whenever it pops up on tv, i always have the feeling that i understand about 2% of what the sport is lol.
Yes! I do indeed curl. It’s a strange sport…I get that. But it’s so much fun. When I first started curling, I described it as a combination of shuffleboard and chess…on ice. 🙂 Thanks, Heather! I hope you have a great weekend ahead, my friend!
I’ve always wanted one of those height rulers, but honestly, I’d rather eat this lobster linguine 🙂
Hahaha…thank you so much, Erlene! You’re hilarious. 🙂 I’m not sure I could make that height ruler myself, but I can definitely whip up some tasty pasta instead. Thanks for commenting!
How many does this recipe serve?
Hey James! That all depends on how much pasta you serve each person as this is primarily a linguine dish with other flavors added in. I usually estimate about 4 oz. of pasta per person for a main course, so that would mean you’d get ~4 servings from this recipe. I hope you enjoy this one…it’s one of our favorites whenever we find lobster tail on sale! Cheers!