Spaghetti Vongole in a Lobster sauce

Spaghetti Vongole in a lobster cream sauce

You will require

For the lobster stock

The caprice and shell remains of last night’s lobster (failing that get a pot of lobster sauce and a tin of lobster meat, but it’s not half as interesting or taste half as nice)

A few rough chopped root veg and a shallot

1 table spoon olive oil

½ltr of good vegetable stock (marigold)

For the vongole and lobster sauce

1kg of carpet clams (vongole)

A mirepoix of vegetables

1 clove of garlic chopped

Slug of Noilly Prat

Remains (about a glass) of yesterday evenings picpoul

100ml of long life cream

First pick out the meat from the head and legs, this is a slow laborious task but well worth the effort as here is where the sweetest meat lives (set this to one side).

Chop the legs etc. into smaller pieces and fry in a little olive oil

Add the root veg and fry a little, add the stock, the slug of Noilly Prat

and the white wine,

let it simmer, no hurry you want all of the taste out of the shells and veg and into the sauce.

 Strain through a fine sieve. Set aside (you will have too much for this dish but will have a good reserve in your freezer).

Wash the clams under running water and remove any broken ones and foreign matter

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the spaghetti.

Soften the mirepoix in a little olive oil, transfer to a large pot, add the stock and bring to the boil

You have now 8 minutes, spaghetti into the boiling water.

Add the clams and about 1/2ltr of the lobster stock, lid on and shake it all about.

When they are open remove from the heat, add 100ml of cream (I never said it was totally healthy) and the lobster meat.

Strain spaghetti into a large bowl (Ikea have some very nice ones) add a slug of olive oil and pepper, pour in the clams and sauce, mix

and eat, well daughter did!!!!

She had arrived and as normal was hungry