Restaurant Week may be long gone, but memories of Zola's Lobster with Fontina Macaroni and Cheese and Asparagus still linger, for good reason. While a few DCists thought the dish a bit bland, the flavors worked so well together that the dish begged for a second look.
For DCist's lobster mac, we decided to increase the content of Fontina in the dish for a more oozy texture and fuller flavor. Rather than cook the lobster in the macaroni itself (which lends itself to tough and overdone lobster meat) we decided to poach it in butter and fold it in at the end. The result is an intensely rich nutty Fontina flavor that mingles nicely with the decadent and buttery lobster.
Shopping List
Whole milk
Flour
Butter (at least a pound!)
Small yellow onion
6-8 oz. Fontina cheese
Elbow macaroni
Fresh tarragon
Asparagus
Lobster (whole or tail)
White vinegar
*Note* When choosing lobster for this dish you can opt for live whole lobster or lobster tails. Either works but if the idea of a live lobster crawling around in your messenger bag on the way home skeeves you out, you may want to go with the tails and follow the directions bellow. If you do go for the whole lobster check out Gothamist's techniques for steeping. One tail should garnish enough macaroni for two people. If you're serving four, grab a whole lobster or two tails.
Place the lobster tail in a large, heavy pan and cover with water (this step determines the amount of water needed to cover your lobster). Remove the water and bring it to a boil in a second pan, adding 1/4 cup white vinegar for every 8 quarts of water. Dump the boiling water over the lobster tails, cover, and let steep for 2 minutes. Remove the tails and work quickly while they are hot using a kitchen towel to protect your hands.
Break off the fins of the tail by grabbing firmly and twisting. This should open a hole at the base of the tail. If you are lucky, you should be able to push the meat up and out through the larger opening. If not, use kitchen shears and carefully cut open the underside of the tail and remove the meat. Lay the meat onto its back and cut in half down the center. Remove the vein and any other material, and cut the tail segments into bite-sized pieces. Plate on a paper towel, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
Boil 1 and 1/2 cups of elbow macaroni according to package instructions for aldente. Start the cheese sauce by cooking 1/4 cup of finely chopped onion over low heat in a tablespoon of butter until the onion is translucent, but not browned. Add a tablespoon of flour and mix thoroughly before adding 1 and 1/4 cups whole milk. Bring the mixture to a boil -- stirring constantly -- to thicken, and quickly lower the heat. Add the Fontina a small amount at a time (shredding will make this easier), continuing to constantly stir the mixture until it's completely melted. Fold the macaroni (that has been well drained) into the Fontina mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the mixture is hot and bubbly.
With the macaroni and cheese in the oven you can turn your attention back to the lobster by preparing a buerre monte. This simple butter sauce allows butter to exist in your kitchen in a liquid form while not breaking apart into milk solids and oil. The result is a velvety texture, pure butter flavor and a very versatile simple sauce. You need to make enough of this sauce to completely cover the lobster meat, so choose your sauce pan accordingly. While you're making the beurre monte let the lobster return to room temperature.
Bring a tablespoon of water to a boil and whisk in a tablespoon of cold butter as quickly as possible. Continue to add butter in small amounts, whisking vigorously to maintain the emulsion. Don't let the sauce come to a boil or it will break and you'll be left with melted butter. If you have a thermometer on hand, you should try to keep the mixture between 180 and 190 degrees. When you've added the last of the butter, toss in a few sprigs of tarragon and let them incorporate their flavors for 5-10 minutes, maintaining a constant "just under boiling" temperature.
Add the lobster meat to the beurre monte and let poach for 5 minutes, while quickly cooking a few springs of asparagus over medium to high heat in olive oil with a dash of salt. When the macaroni is out of the oven, strain the lobster meat from the butter and fold it into the macaroni, covering it in the cheese mixture. For an appealing presentation, plate the macaroni and cheese and pick out the lobster meat to place it on top. Finish with a few sprigs of asparagus. This dish is hearty comfort food that is simply tasty and elegant all on one plate.
