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Spain · Spiny Lobster

Menorcan Lobster Stew

Caldereta de Llagosta

The pride of the little fishing port of Fornells: lobster stewed in a slow tomato sofrito, thickened with a garlic-and-parsley picada and ladled over thin slices of bread.

  • Prep 30 min
  • Cook 50 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Hard
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Slastic assumed (based on copyright claims) · Public domain
Served with: Spanish Roasted Pepper Salad ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the stew

For the picada

To serve

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Cut the lobsters. Chill the lobsters in the freezer 20 minutes to make them sleepy, then split them through the head with a heavy knife. Cut the tails into 3–4 rounds and the heads in half. Scoop the greenish liver and any coral from the heads into a small bowl.
  2. Brown the lobster. Heat the oil in a wide clay or heavy pot and sear the lobster pieces 2 minutes per side. Lift them out.
  3. Make the sofrito. In the same oil cook the onions and pepper over low heat 15 minutes, until soft and sweet. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomatoes, and cook 10 minutes until thick and dark.
  4. Add the picada. Crush the garlic and parsley in a mortar, then mix in the liver, coral and brandy. Stir it into the sofrito, pour in the stock, add the bay leaf and salt and simmer 10 minutes.
  5. Finish and serve. Return the lobster and simmer gently 8–10 minutes. Lay the bread in soup bowls and ladle the broth and lobster over it.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Spain

Spanish Roasted Pepper Salad

Pimientos Asados

Red peppers roasted until soft and smoky, peeled into silky strips and dressed with garlic and olive oil. A Spanish summer side for grilled fish and sardines.

  • Prep 15 min + 30 min resting
  • Cook 45 min
  • Serves 4–6
  • Level Easy

You need

  • 4 large red bell peppers
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little for roasting
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley

How to make it

  1. Roast. Heat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Rub the peppers with a little oil and roast 40–45 minutes, turning twice, until the skins are blistered and blackened in spots.
  2. Sweat. Put them in a bowl, cover with a plate and let them sit 20–30 minutes so the skins loosen. Save the juices.
  3. Peel. Peel off the skins, pull out the stems and seeds and tear the flesh into strips.
  4. Dress. Lay the strips on a plate with their juices, the garlic, vinegar, salt and olive oil. Let them marinate at least 30 minutes and finish with parsley.

Photo: Juan Emilio Prades Bel · CC BY-SA 4.0

More ways to cook Spiny Lobster

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Exumas, BahamasBahamian Grilled Lobster Tails
Peniche, PortugalPortuguese Brothy Lobster Rice
Piñones, Puerto RicoMofongo Stuffed with Lobster Creole
Key West, FloridaKey West Grilled Spiny Lobster with Key Lime Butter