Fra Diavolo Recipe with Fresh Tagliolini

This Fra Diavolo recipe is one of my favorite Toscana recipes. Literally meaning “brother devil,” Fra Diavolo gets its famous spice from the chili flakes but many would argue the dish is actually quite heavenly. When we prepare it on board, each ingredient is carefully selected – the lobster is fresh from Maine, the delicious tomatoes from Italy of course, the chili flakes from Spain and the tagliolini is freshly made by yours truly. As with all of our dishes, it’s made à la minute. I hope you enjoy this delicious dinner recipe as a way to bring a taste of The Finest Cuisine at Sea into your home until we meet on board again soon.

Fra Diavolo Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 Maine lobsters, halved
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 oz extra virgin olive oil (about ½ cup)
4 teaspoons fresh garlic, crushed and finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried chili flakes (1 pinch per serving)
4 oz white wine (about ½ cup)
11 oz tomatoes seeded and diced (about 1 ¾ cup)
10 oz tomato sauce (about 1 ¼ cup)
10 oz fresh tagliolini
2 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, freshly chopped
3 tablespoons Lessatini extra virgin olive oil
4 pinches dried Espelette pepper

Directions
Using only half a lobster per serving, wash the cavity of the lobster, remove tail meat and set it back in the shell. Season the lobster meat with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium-high. Sear the lobster and claws on both sides. Remove from the pan. Add some more olive oil, then add the garlic and sauté until slightly golden. Add the chili flakes, then deglaze with white wine and reduce until almost dry. Add the tomato chunks and simmer for one minute.

Cook the fresh tagliolini à la minute. Meanwhile, add the tomato sauce to the diced tomatoes, garlic and chili flakes. Add some pasta cooking water and bring back to a simmer. Add the lobster and simmer until the lobster is almost done. Add the pasta to the lobster and tomato sauce, toss well. Add some pasta cooking water to keep the dish juicy.

Remove from the heat. Add a dash of olive oil and freshly chopped Italian parsley. Serve with a drizzle of Lessatini olive oil around the lobster and pasta and dust with Espelette pepper. Buon appetito!

About Paolo Piras, Chef de Cuisine Toscana
Chef Paolo Piras was born in Sardinia, Italy. He had a passion for cooking from when he was very young, helping his grandparents and learning all about the traditional food of his region. After business school for accounting, Chef Paolo left the numbers to attend the private Vatican cooking school in Rome. He eventually began working at prestigious hotels in Tuscany like the Imperial Garden and Grand Hotel Bellavista Palace in Montecatini Terme and later moved to London and Kuala Lumpur, moving up the culinary ranks and further expanding his horizons. Chef Paolo joined Oceania Cruises in 2013 and is proud to be part of one of the best culinary teams in the world.

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