INGREDIENTS
8 ounces lobster meat cooked, chopped, about 2 cups *see notes
16 ounces dry pasta cavatappi, penne or shells
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
¼ teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
¼ teaspoon black pepper to taste
2 ¾ cups milk
½ cup light cream
2 cups sharp cheddar shredded
1 ¼ cups Gruyere cheese shredded, or swiss, mozzarella, or havarti cheese
½ cup fresh parmesan cheese shredded
Topping:
½ cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter melted
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated
1 teaspoon parsley chopped
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9x13 pan.
Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water and set aside.
While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Stir in flour and seasonings and cook 2 minutes.
Combine milk and cream. Add to the flour mixture a little bit at a time whisking in after each addition. The mixture will be very thick at first but will smooth out as you continue adding liquid.
Once all of the liquid is added, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1-2 minutes or until thickened while whisking.
Remove from heat and stir in the cheeses whisking until the sauce is smooth and melted.
Combine the sauce and the pasta. Gently stir in half of the lobster meat and spread into the prepared pan.
Add remaining lobster meat on top and sprinkle with the topping mixture.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and topping is browned. Do not overcook.
Notes:
This recipe uses cooked lobster meat. Use tails or a whole lobster if you prefer. You can cook just tails by broiling them (broiled lobster tail recipe here) or boiling in water below. Two to three small tails should be enough but you can add extra if you’d like.