I like doing surf-n-turf on Christmas Eve. Lobster seemed like the thing to do … but since we were making Beef Wellington (heavy portion), lobster tail seemed like it would be too much. Eric suggested lobster ravioli — this provides both seafood and a side dish, so it filled the bill!

Baked Lobster Ravioli in Lemon Butter Limoncello Cream Sauce

RAVIOLI:

• 1 pkg won ton wrappers
• 1 lb lobster tail meat 2 cups cooked/diced or 4 small tails
• 1 large shallot, finely diced
• 1 tsp lemon juice or limoncello
• 1/4 cup ricotta
• 2 Tbsp Asiago cheese
• 1 Tbsp mascarpone cheese
• 2 tsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup melted butter

LEMON BUTTER LIMONCELLO CREAM SAUCE:

• 4 Tbsp limoncello (can substitute lemon juice)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 stick of salted butter (1/2 cup) cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• garnish: finely chopped parsley

FILLING:

Boil the lobster: If the lobster tails are frozen, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. To cook small 8 oz tails, bring 6 cups salted water to boiling in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the lobster tails. Simmer, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes or until shells turn bright red, the meat is not translucent, and the tails will curve. For larger or smaller tails, adjust the cooking time as needed. Drain in a colander, cool, remove the meat from the shells (discard), and dice into 1/2″ pieces.

Instead of dicing the lobster, I used a food processor to shred it. This only took a few pulses — be careful, it’s easy to make paste.

In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil and saute the diced shallot for two minutes. Add the lobster and parsley, and stir until mixed for 2 more minutes, let cool down.

Add the lobster meat mixture into a bowl, add lemon juice (or limoncello), ricotta, Asiago cheese, and mascarpone. Mix until combined.

RAVIOLI:

Take 1 wonton wrapper, place on a board and fill with 1 tsp of the lobster filling. Don’t overfill your ravioli or they won’t seal, this will be plenty once you press the air out and cut or fold.

Place another wonton wrapper on top, press down to push the air out, and cut with a ravioli (heart-shaped) cutter of your choice. Wonton ravioli can be cut into shapes: round, square, or heart using an inexpensive ravioli cutters, and the cutter will seal the edges.

If you don’t have a cutter, simply place the tsp of filling onto one wonton sheet, and fold into a triangle corner to corner, and press the air out, and press edges closed with your fingers. That’s it! Easy..

Place all filled ravioli onto a parchment lined tray, and brush with melted butter.

Bake Ravioli 400 F for 10 minutes. The edges of the ravioli will brown slightly and get a crispy edge. The baking adds amazing flavor!

SAUCE:

In a small pan, simmer the limoncello, lemon juice, and whisk in the cubed butter until well combined, then pour in heavy cream, whisk to mix and turn off heat.

Drizzle sauce over baked lobster ravioli, and garnish with finely chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Grilled Shrimp Scampi

• 2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and cleaned
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 head garlic, peeled, crushed, & chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp dried basil

Blend the oil, garlic, salt, and basil in a 1 gallon ziplock bag. Add the shrimp, seal, and mix to coat. Put the bag in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

Heat a grill to very hot. Once hot turn the burners down to low. While the grill is heating, thread the shrimp onto skewers.

Grill for 6 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked through. Do NOT overcook.

Notes:

Yes, 1 full head of garlic (or is it bulb?). Don’t be a wimp.

I had a bag of Argentine pink shrimp, 12-16 count, in the freezer thanks to a VERY nice sale at Harris Teeter. Any shrimp is good! But the larger ones work better for grilling.

I have recently reverted to a technique my college roommate John Chua taught me regarding garlic. Instead of pressing I crush each clove with the flat of a cleaver or chef knife, then chop as finely as I can — which isn’t all that fine. If I’m doing a marinade this is faster then pressing the cloves in a garlic press. The rough manipulation (crushing) releases the oils and generates great flavor.

Stephen’s subtle sense of humor comes out in his comments in his recipes …

Seafood Crepes

Filling:

• 6 medium mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion, divided
• 3 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 3-1/2 cups (about 18 oz) cooked seafood, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3x 3oz pkg cream cheese, cubed
• 1/3 cup half-n-half
• 3 Tbsp snipped parsley
• 2 Tbsp sherry (optional)
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 16 crepes

Crepes:

• 1/4 stick of butter, melted (I don’t know how you melt butter and keep it as 1/4 stick)
• 1-1/2 cups of milk
• 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3 eggs

Do-Ahead Tip:

Stack crepes with wax paper between each. Wrap and refrigerate no longer than 2 days or freeze no longer than 3 months. Thaw wrapped frozen crepes at room temperature for 3 hours.

Filling:

Cook and stir mushrooms and 1/4 cup green onion until onion is tender. Stir in seafood, cream cheese, half-n-half, and parsley. Cook, stirring constantly, until cream cheese is melted. Stir in sherry.

Assembly: Place about 1/4 cup filling on center of each crepe; roll up. Place 8 crepes seam sides down in each of 2 ungreased oblong baking dishes, 12″ x 7-1/2″ x 2″, or ovenproof serving platters. Sprinkle each with 1/2 cup Swiss cheese. Cover and heat in 350 F oven until crepes are hot, about 20 minutes. Garnish each dish with half of remaining green onion.

Crepes:

Beat all ingredients until smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours so that the flour will absorb the liquid and thicken the batter.

Brush the bottoms of a 7″ crepe pan and 10″ skillet with melted butter and heat over medium heat. (I used a thin stainless 7″ steel pan. That seemed to work better for me than Calphalon.)

Pour scant 1/4 cup batter into crepe pan and tip the pan to coat the bottom. Cook the crepe until the top is set and the underside is slightly browned (about 2 minutes).

Loosen crepe (a high heat rubber spatula is good for this) and flip it into the 10″ hot skillet. Cook briefly (about 30 seconds) in the skillet. Meanwhile, wipe the bottom if the crepe pan with a paper towel to clean residue from the pan and wipe again with another paper towel that has a little melted butter on it if needed. Start cooking another crepe.

Stacked cooked crepes with wax paper between each one. Crepes may be used immediately, wrapped in foil and refrigerated, or frozen until later.