This is one of those recipes that are a real showstopper, but is actually a breeze to make. If you are on the look out for something really delicious and decadent then this one is worth your consideration. Sweet and succulent lobster, hugged by a creamy leeky sauce and encased in buttery pastry, I mean, what's not to like?
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 50g unsalted butter - plus 1 tbsp
- 50g plain flour - plus extra for dusting
- 400ml whole milk
- 1 bay leaf
- finely chopped to make 1 tbsp tarragon
- 65g gruyère finely grated
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 leeks sliced
- 250ml dry white wine
- 250g lobster meat
- 2 tsp brandy
- 500g baby spinach
- 500g block ready-made puff pastry
- 1 egg beaten
- Creamy mash potato and buttered Savoy cabbage to serve
Melt 50g of butter in a pan over a medium heat, then sprinkle over the flour and stir vigorously until you have a smooth paste. Add the milk, a splash at a time, stirring continuously until you have a smooth white sauce. Add the bay, tarragon, gruyère and mustard, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.
In a separate pan, heat the tbsp of butter and fry the leeks for 15 minutes until very soft – add a splash of water during cooking to stop them catching, if needed. Add the wine and simmer until evaporated.
Side Note: I think you have two options here, you can take the lobster meat and chop it all up so each slice of the pie has a mix of tail and claw meat, or you could cut the tail meat in half and set to one side, chop up the claw and knuckle meat and then mix that into the sauce. Then when you come to make the pie, lay out the halves of tail meat along the length of the pastry and cover with the claw meat sauce. Either way it will be delicious, but I guess it depends on how you want it to look when you slice it open and on how many tails you have in the lobster meat.
Stir into the white sauce along with the lobster meat and brandy. Cover and chill for 3 hours, or overnight, until set solid. Steam the spinach until wilted, then cool until you can handle it. Tip into a clean tea towel, wrap up and squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach.
Cut off a third of the pastry and roll out on a well-floured worksurface into a 20cm x 30cm rectangle. Transfer to a heavy baking tray lined with baking paper. Arrange the spinach over the pastry rectangle, leaving a 4cm border around the edge, then spoon the lobster filling down the middle of the spinach. (Alternatively add a layer of the sauce then the tail halves then more sauce).
Roll out the remaining pastry as before into a 40cm x 30cm rectangle. Brush some of the beaten egg around the exposed pastry edges of the filled rectangle, then lay the larger rectangle on top. Crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers to enclose the filling and seal. Trim the excess and use the off-cuts to decorate the top, if you like. Brush the pastry all over with most of the remaining beaten egg, cut a large steam hole in the top and chill for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Glaze the pastry with any remaining beaten egg and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden, puffed, crisp-based (lift a corner to check) and piping hot throughout. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Serve with creamy mash potato and buttery Savoy cabbage.