Chef Jeff’s Sous Vide Lobster Tail & Butternut Squash Risotto

Private Chef Jeff Nappe, based out of New Jersey, curates beautiful elegant dishes. Using techniques and ingredients used in different cultures such as Indian, Norwegian and Japanese. Understanding textural, visual and taste appeal, you can count on New Jersey Resident & Chef, Jeff, to create your new favorite dish.

In this sous-vide lobster recipe you will learn how to make the most tender and juicy lobster possible. His methods & ingredients greatly intensify the lobster’s natural flavor. Serve with risotto, pasta, greens, or on its own. In this particular recipe Jeff pairs the lobster with a delicious butternut squash risotto.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Cold water lobster tails, 4

sousvide/braising liquid

Unsalted butter, 1/2 stick

Dulse seaweed, 1/2 c

Chicken Stock (low sodium), 2 c

Salt, to taste

Risotto

Butternut squash, 1

Evoo, 1 tbsp

Salt, pinch

Arborio rice, 1 c

1/2 stick unsalted butter

pinch of salt

Bechamel

Unsalted butter, 1/2 stick

AP flour, 1 tsp

Whole milk, 1/2 c

Heavy cream, 1/2 c

Grated Pecorino, 1 1/2 c

Salt, to taste

Parsley, chopped

Chicken stock (low sodium), 1/2 c

Procedure:

For the sous vide lobster put 1/2 stick of unsalted butter into a pan on medium high heat. Allow butter to become brown butter. Add 2 c low sodium chicken stock and 1 c dulse seaweed. Reduce, then salt to taste. Allow to cool.
Remove lobster tails from shells.
Using BPA free sous vide safe bags, transfer chicken stock & dulse liquid into Vacuum seal bag and drop in lobster tails as well. Vacuum seal the bag.
Set sous vide cooker at 135c for 1 hour.
While the lobster is cooking, cut a butternut squash in half lengthwise and rub with olive oil. Roast over fire using the shell as a vessel for roasting. If you don’t have a flame on a grill or an open fire to roast the squash, then just simply bake it in the oven on 350 for 1 hour on a oiled sheet pan. Once the butternut squash is done roasting, cool, then scrape out contents into a vitamix. Puree until smooth adding low sodium chicken stock by the 1/4 c until a thick, smooth consistency is achieved.
There should be at least 3- 4 c of butternut squash puree, set aside.
For the risotto, in a large pot you would use for rice, put half a stick of butter in the pan on a medium high flame until butter is browned. .
Drop in 1 heaping cup of arborio rice with a pinch of salt. Lower the flame to medium low and gently toss the rice in fat with a spatula. Allow the rice to toast in the brown butter for 1 minute.
Add 3 c of water in to the risotto and stir. Raise flame to medium high and bring to a boil.
Risotto should take at least 15 to 20 minutes to become right consistency. Using a lid will make the risotto cook faster, but you may have to add more water by the 1/2 c into your risotto to achieve your desired firmness.
For the butternut squash bechamel, using a medium saucepan set flame to medium high, drop in a 1/2 stick of unsalted butter, allow to brown, then add 1 tsp AP flour. Stir, and once it starts bubbling after about 1 minute, add 1/2 c of whole milk and 1/2 c of heavy cream. Once the mixture is just on the verge of boiling, add 1 1/2 c grated pecorino romano. Allow up to 20 minutes to reduce. Keep flame on medium.
Pour 2 cups of butternut squash puree into the sauce pan with the bechamel and mix in the risotto. Add chopped parsley and 1/2 c chicken stock. Add additional salt if desired. Place lobster tail on top of plated risotto and serve.

Note-The dulse seaweed carries a fair amount of salt on its own. By using low sodium chicken stock and unsalted butter you give yourself the freedom to salt the liquid to taste as it heats up in the pot. Whatever the salt level of your liquid is, it is what the salt level of your lobster tails will be after an hour of sous vide time.

Note-Personally I enjoy my risotto soupy and soft so there is no shame in adding more water in the beginning rather than feeding the risotto a cup of water every few minutes and micro managing it. You will probably need more liquid at the end anyway just to achieve whichever firmness you desire.

This recipe is just one of the many recipes that can be found in Chef Jeff Nappe’s book, Tastings, which can be found on Amazon or by clicking the link below.