Recipe for Baked Stuffed Lobster Tails with Newburg Sauce

The lobster's tail is the meatiest - and some say most flavorful - part of the lobster. In this recipe, it is left in the shell and stuffed with the meat from other parts of the lobster.

Most grocers will steam or boil your lobsters for you. This is a great shortcut for recipes such as this. Some grocers even will remove the meat from the shells if you ask.

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BAKED STUFFED LOBSTER TAILS WITH NEWBURG SAUCE

Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours (1 hour active)

Servings: 4

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon dry white wine or sherry, divided

4 lobsters, cooked and cooled

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

8 Ritz crackers

8 saltine crackers

Preheat oven to 350 F.

To prepare the sauce, in a medium saucepan over low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring constantly, and cook until the mixture browns slightly, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the paprika, milk and 1/4 cup of wine or sherry. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick. Set aside.

Remove the meat from the claws and joints of the lobsters, then coarsely chop. Add the chopped meat to the sauce, mix well, then season with salt. Set aside.

Break the tails off the lobsters. One at a time, hold each upside down (underside of the tail facing up) and use a knife to carefully cut through the underside all the way to (but not through) the back shell.

Carefully split open the lobster tails and remove any veins. Arrange the opened tails in a baking dish, then spoon the sauce into each. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the remaining butter, the remaining wine and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until the butter is melted. Crumble the Ritz and saltine crackers into the mixture. Sprinkle this mixture over the lobster tails.

Bake until lightly browned and heated through, about 20 to 25 minutes. If needed, broil very briefly to brown.

(Recipe adapted from "A Lobster in Every Pot: Recipes & Lore," Susan White, editor, Yankee Books, 1990)