Tagliolini with Lobster and Fresh Tomatoes

Ok, enough with all this creamy, grainy comfort food -- time to bring on the drama! And nothing says ooh-la-la, I am a DRAMATIC dinner like lobster. Now, lobster is usually something I save for eating at the beach (Red's Lobster Pot, Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Go there at least in your life. Trust me on this.) But that is when we are talking about whole lobsters. Let someone else have the putting of the lobster in the pot guilt, never mind the mess of the shells that fling themselves across the room as you are cracking your way through dinner.

However, recipes that involve lobster meat as part of the dish? Bring 'em on, baby. In those cases we purchase the lobster at the supermarket, they steam it right there, and then all I have to do is talk my sous-chef husband into doing the hard part, which is extracting the meat from the shell and chopping it into succulent little chunks. I am then home-free on the rest of the dish, because (once again) he has done the serious work. He also cleans up the kitchen, by the way. Every night. No, you cannot borrow him, he's MINE.

This delightful, delicious, de-lovely lobster dish is from the cookbook that brought us the gnocchi recipe earlier in the week: ITALY AL DENTE by Biba Caggiano. This time of year I will try almost anything that calls for fresh tomatoes, because in New Jersey in the summertime the fresh tomatoes pretty much have us surrounded. This is a quick and pretty sauce that called for those tomatoes sauted in olive oil with garlic, sundried tomato, red pepper and (and this MAKES the dish) a handful of capers. Some lobster meat, a lacing of butter, some hot pasta, and your evening just got a whole lot better!

So next time you have some tomatoes hanging around your kitchen, go grab yourself a lobster and give this one a go. And if you are ever in Point Pleasant Beach...Red's Lobster Pot.

Red's Lobster Pot

TAGLIOLINI WITH LOBSTER AND FRESH TOMATOES

• 1 lobster, steamed, meat extracted and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon minced sun-dried tomatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons capers
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, seeded and diced
• Salt to tase
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces tagliolini pasta (use linguine if you can't find this)

1. Bring water to a boil in large pot and cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

2. Meantime, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes and capers and stir for a minute. Add diced tomatoes, season with salt and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in parsley and turn off heat.

3. Add lobster and cooked pasta to skillet and toss with butter. Add a little pasta water to make a light sauce. Serve immediately.