Yield: 8 cups of sauce

Ingredients:

Dough (Chestnuts prep):

• 3 eggs
• 4 cups of peanut oil
• 2 cups bleached flour
• 26 chestnuts
• 1/2 cup semolina flour
• 3 oz. of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of saffron
• 1 cup of chicken consome
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 thyme stalk
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 4
• black peppercorn

Filling (Sauce):

• 4 ounces lobster meat, diced
• 1 cup olive oil
• 12 chestnuts
• 1 cup lobster sauce (see below)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 of fennel bulb sliced in thin slices
• 1 1/2 ounces baked potato, peeled & chopped
• 5 oz. oven-dried roma tomato
• 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped
• 3 oz. shallots
• 1 egg
• 1 garlic clove

Garnish (Lobster Sauce):

• 2 oz. julienned fennel
• 3 lobster carcasses
• 1 oz. julienned black truffle
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 oz. julienned oven dried tomatoes
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 oz. julienned shallots
• 7 fresh thyme sprigs
• 4 lobster claws
• 3 fresh tarragon sprigs
• 2 spoons of olive oil
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 ounce fresh Italian parsley
• 4 onions, rough cut (1 pound)
• 8 celery stalks, rough cut (1 pound)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups sherry
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste

  To Prepare the Dough:
  Combine ingredients and mix in food processor or mixer with dough hook attachment. If this attachment is not available, mix using your hands. After dough is initially folded, knead further, using your hands on a lightly floured surface. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for 2 hours. This will give the dough greater elasticity.

To Prepare the Chestnuts:
Place an incision on them sideways with a small knife. Place the oil in a medium size sauce pan and bring it to the frying point. Place the chestnuts in the oil and cook for five minutes. Drain and place on a towel for four minutes, until you can start to peel the skin completely. Peel the chestnuts, and in a sauce pot, place the butter and sauté the chestnuts for ten minutes, until they attain a nice golden color. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for twenty minutes or until all the juice is reduced and the chestnuts are soft.

To Prepare the Filling:
Mix the lobster meat, chopped chestnuts, and salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Add the potato and parsley and continue to mix well, using a wooden spoon. Set aside.
Note: The potato will absorb some of the water from the lobster meat and, due to its starch, will help to bind other ingredients.

To Prepare the Caramelle:
Take the chilled dough and roll slightly on a lightly floured surface. Using a pasta maker, electric or manual, begin to feed the dough through at the #1 setting. Continue to re-feed dough, increasing the setting to #6, which will allow the noodles to become wider and thinner as they pass through. Combine 1 egg and 2 tablespoons water in a small mixing bowl and beat it with a whisk. When the dough is an even, thin noodle, brush lightly with the egg mixture. Place 1/2 ounce of filling (walnut-sized spoonfuls) in a row, lengthwise down the center of the dough, leaving 2 1/4 " in between each. Fold dough over the top of the filling. Press down with fingertips, lightly sealing dough, folding along the outside edges. Continue to press the dough around each filling pocket, releasing any air bubbles that have formed in between layers. Take the extremities of the caramelle and slightly twist the dough in order to close the sides. After forming all of the caramelle, place on a baking sheet dusted with simolina. Check each caramelle again for air pockets. Use a needle to puncture the dough, and push gently, releasing air.
Note: It is important to remove the air from the caramelle pockets because air will cause them to fill with water, making the filling soggy. Cook caramelle in salted boiling water for 2 1/2 minutes.

To Prepare the Lobster Sauce:
Chop lobster carcasses into small pieces using a meat cleaver. Spread shells on a large baking sheet, covering them with 1/4 cup of olive oil. Mix well to coat the shells and place in an oven. Bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring contents thoroughly every 15 minutes. Remove shells from the oven and set aside in a separate bowl. Set pan aside. In a large stock pot, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil. Take one full head of garlic and cut in half through the width of the head. Place head into the heated oil, face down. Add vegetables, herbs, salt, and pepper, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add roasted shells and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add sherry and cook. While the sherry is reducing, add the reduction from the baking pan, tomato paste, and one gallon of water to the stock pot. Turn heat to high until stock comes to a boil. When mixture boils, reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for a total cook time of 3 hours. Allow stock to set after removing heat. A layer of oil will form on top. Skim oil off before storing.

To reduce the sauce for an even more pungent, rich-tasting sauce, return the 8 cups of sauce to a stock pot and cook over high heat until it boils. After the sauce boils, reduce to low heat, simmering for a total cook time of 3 hours. The yield will be 2 1/2 cups of sauce.

To Prepare the Black Truffle and Fennel Sauce:
Put 1/4 cup of olive oil in a sauce pan with all the ingredients but not the lobster sauce. Keep sautéing the ingredients for five minutes then add the lobster sauce. Cook for 12 minutes over a moderate flame. Remove from the heat and purée. With the aid of a hand blender, add the rest of the cold olive oil, and the sauce is ready.

To Prepare the Garnish:
Place the olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté all the ingredients for 3 minutes at moderate heat. Place the lobster claw in an oven-proof dish and brush it with olive oil. Warm up for 45 seconds.

To Serve:
Place warm pasta on a plate and use garnish to decorate. Finish the dish with some fennel leaves.

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