Ingredients

serves 4

　　

The Lobsters

4 1- to 1 1/2-pound lobsters

　　10 quarts seawater or 10 quarts water and 1 cup coarse sea salt

　　

The Saffroned Almond Sauce

1 large red bell pepper

　　2 teaspoons plus 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

　　1 1/2 cups blanched almonds

　　1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

　　2 tablespoons good red wine

　　4 large, fleshy sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

　　2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

　　1 small, whole dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon dried chile flakes

　　1 tablespoon good red wine vinegar

　　

The Lobsters

Step 1

Begin by building a fire of charcoal and fragrant woods—grapevine cuttings, olive wood, oak, or applewood, for example.

　　

Step 2

Bring the seawater or the water and sea salt to a galloping boil over a lively flame. Give each lobster—one at a time—a 1-minute immersion in the boiling water, lifting each one out to rest while the fire builds. Finally, about 4 inches above white, cindery heat, grill the lobsters whole, turning them almost constantly, for 12 to 15 minutes—not a second more. In a single, sure movement, and with a large and very sharp knife, cut from head to tail, separating each lobster in two. Remove the roe and the tomalley. (Mix the roe, if you’ve roasted female lobsters, and the tomalley with a bit of softened, sweet butter, smearing the savory salve on hot bread for the cook’s merendina.)

　　

Step 3

Position the lobster halves on a warmed tray or plate and spread them with spoonfuls of the sauce.

　　

The Saffroned Almond Sauce

Step 4

Dry-roast the red pepper in the oven, or grill it over a wood fire or over a gas flame, turning it until its skin is deeply, completely charred. Place the blackened pepper in a paper bag to steam and cool for 20 minutes.

　　

Step 5

In a small sauté pan, warm 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and quickly toast the almonds, tossing them about until they are of a dark golden color. Set them aside to cool.

　　

Step 6

Prepare the saffron by pan-roasting the threads over a medium flame for 30 seconds or so before adding the red wine and allowing it to heat nearly to the boil. Stir the saffron, melting it in the heated wine. Cover the pan and allow the saffron to steep for 20 minutes.

　　

Step 7

Remove the pepper from the sack, pulling off its charred skin, scraping away its seeds and chopping it roughly.

　　

Step 8

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, construct the sauce by processing the almonds, the red pepper, the sun-dried tomatoes, the garlic cloves, the chile pepper, and the red wine vinegar for 30 seconds or until the elements are well amalgamated but distinct texture still remains. Scrape the work bowl.

　　

Step 9

With the machine running, begin adding olive oil in a very thin stream, not much more than droplets at a time, approximately 1/4 to 1/3 cup—just enough to bind the sauce into a rather loose paste.

　　

Step 10

Turn the sauce out into a bowl and begin beating in the saffroned wine, a teaspoon at a time, tasting the sauce after each addition. Stop when the saffron has gently illuminated, integrated the other flavors—when a touch of it on the tongue is all at once sweet, salty, sour, piquant, and with a hushed sort of bitterness at its finish. Dosing the saffron in this manner is good prevention against an acrid-tasting dish.

　　

Step 11

Allow the sauce to rest an hour or two before presenting it with the just-roasted lobsters. The sauce is lovely tossed with malloreddus di Desulo (page 234) or with charred, wood-scented meat or fish.

　　A Taste of Southern Italy