Braised Lobster with Potato Gnocchi, Asparagus and Black Truffles, and Oven-dried Tomatoes ►
Lobster and truffles are combined in a butter sauce for gnocchi. Chef Alex Stratta’s gnocchi are feather-light. He has a number of tips to help achieve this: keep the potato starch dry, by using baking potatoes, by baking on a bed of salt to draw out water, by using only the lightest action in pressing the potatoes through the drum sieve so as not to activate the gluten in the starch, by using the lightest touch and adding as little flour as possible to make the dough come together, and by not adding salt to the dough.
Ingredients
- Potato Gnocchi
- Coarse Salt - 1 pound
- Baking Potatoes - 2
- Flour - (allow at least 1-1/2 cups)
- Egg - 1
- Lobsters - Two 1-1/2 pound
- Asparagus Spears - 8, trimmed and blanched
- Sauce
- Truffles - 2, shaved
- Sea Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Ttruffle Juice - 1/2 cup
- Truffle - 1, cut in matchstick julienne
- Rich Lobster Stock - 1 cup (see Cooking Basics, Stocks)
- Unsalted Butter - 1 to 1-1/2 cups (4 to 6 sticks), cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
- Lemon Juice - 1-1/2 lemons (preferably Meyer lemon)
- Basil - 4 sprigs
- Dried Tomatoes - 16 pieces
Instructions
To make the gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the salt in a roasting pan. Place the potatoes on the salt. Bake until soft, about 1 hour 15 minutes. As soon as the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half. Cut surface down, very gently work the potato through a drum sieve (tamis) or fine-meshed sieve; discard the skins. Gather the potato meal on a very lightly floured work surface and make an indentation in the center; put the egg in the center. Again, working with a very light touch, mix the egg with the potato meal. Pinch some flour between your thumb and fingers and add to the developing dough; mix in. Continue adding flour, a little at a time, and mixing, just until the dough comes together. Keep the work surface and your hands very lightly floured. The finished dough will be very soft.
Roll the dough out into a long log, about 3/4-inch in diameter, under your hands. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Holding the gnocchi paddle, roll one piece of dough down the paddle, parallel to the grooves, with your other thumb; the gnocchi will roll around your thumb leaving a pocket inside and ridges outside to catch sauce later. Set aside and repeat to form all the gnocchi.
Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over medium heat; reduce the heat to medium-low. Place some of the gnocchi in the water; when they float, about 30 seconds, take out with a slotted spoon. Drain on a towel. Repeat until all gnocchi are cooked.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add the asparagus. Let the water return to a boil, cook 30 seconds, and remove the asparagus spears with tongs or a slotted spoon. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process, drain, and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Plunge the lobsters into the water, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove with tongs and drain. When just cool enough to handle, break the tails and claws from the bodies. Crack and loosen the shells but leave the shells on until ready to use in the sauce.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add the asparagus. Let the water return to a boil, cook 30 seconds, and remove the asparagus spears with tongs or a slotted spoon. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process, drain, and set aside.
To make the sauce: Combine the truffle slices, butter, and sea salt in a large skillet over medium heat. Mash the truffles with a fork to release the flavor, then stir in the truffle juice. Cook until reduced by half. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the lobster stock and reduce until almost a glaze. Whisk in the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time until half the butter has been added, then one tablespoon at a time until finished. Take the pan off the heat from time to time to keep the butter from becoming too hot. As the butter is slowly added, the sauce will increase in volume and be light yellow in color. Whisk in the seasonings and lemon juice. Shell the lobster meat and cut the tail into medallions. Add the medallions, knuckle meat, and claws to the sauce and stir to coat; let warm. Add the asparagus and stir to coat. Stir in the truffle julienne, basil, and dried tomatoes. Add the gnocchi and stir gently to coat.
To serve: Remove the basil sprig from the sauce. Divide the gnocchi, lobster, and tomatoes among the plates, giving each plate some lobster medallions and a claw. Place two asparagus spears beside the lobster and gnocchi. Spoon sauce on the plates.
