Recipe: how to make Rock Lobster’s gooey, overstuffed lobster roll

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 11 minutes
Serves 4

LOBSTER ROLL

1 ¼ lb live lobster
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 pinch each chili flakes, celery salt, kosher salt and pepper
4 regular or 8 mini hot dog buns
2-3 tbsp butter, at room temperature

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add live lobster, head first. Boil for 9 to 12 minutes or until lobster antenna comes out easily when tugged. Remove from pot and plunge into a bowl of cold water and ice.

2. When cool, cut off tail and claws. Use a hammer to crack lobster shell in several places. Cut tail open using a knife or scissors. Remove meat from claws, tail and knuckle. Chop meat coarsely and place in bowl. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice, chili flakes and seasonings. When ready to serve, toast buns and spread with butter. Spoon lobster mixture into buns.

TIP
If you don’t want to crack your own crustacean, you can order steamed, shelled lobsters from Hooked in Leslieville. Give them a day’s notice. 888 Queen St. E., 416-828-1861.

MATT PETTIT
ROCK LOBSTER
A lobster roll classicist, chef Matt Pettit sticks to the four basic elements: shellfish, mayo, lemon and celery salt. His secret is the quality of the ingredients. At Rock Lobster, his pop-up fish shack turned restaurant chain, Pettit ships in fresh Atlantic lobster every day from a fisherman friend in Nova Scotia, amps up the heat with chili flakes, and stuffs the whole gooey mess into a lightly toasted, top-loading roll. Even in March, it tastes like summer on a hot dog bun.

Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Raina and Wilson. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Meaghan Binstock, Chantal Braganza, Matthew Hague, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Caroline Youdan.