A thick slice of heirloom tomato coated with panko and lightly fried, then topped with sweet lobster salad and served with a silky avocado puree: a dish that looks elegant but is surprisingly easy to make.
So currently lobster is on sale every week, which means I make it every week (OK sometimes twice a week). I buy them live or have my seafood guy steam them and then they go into anything I can think of: lobster tacos, seafood scampi, straight up steamed with butter, lobster rolls… Sometimes I think I should rename my blog The Lobster Files… but then there’s the other 9 months of the year when lobster prices are through the roof…
A walk through my local Farmer’s Market on Saturday led me to the biggest, most gorgeous tomatoes. I grabbed a couple and made this for lunch. And yes, my husband fully recognizes that he is spoiled. While he took my oldest shopping for new soccer cleats, I shelled a couple lobsters to make a super simple lobster salad (lobster, chives, celery and a touch of mayonnaise), fried the tomatoes and pureed the avocado with a little cilantro. (My little Nutmeg nibbled the cut up ends of the “air” tomatoes – her name for heirloom. In her opinion they are called that because they look like they are filled with air. She’s ridiculously adorable.)
I would happily serve this at a fancy dinner party. But I prefer to keep it to myself for a darn tasty lunch.
- Meat from 2 cooked lobsters, cut into chunks
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
- 1 tsp. minced fresh chives, plus more for garnish
- ½ tsp. ketchup
- 1 large ripe tomato
- ½ cup flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- Canola oil for frying
- 1 ripe avocado
- 2 sprigs cilantro
- ½ tsp. olive oil
- To make the lobster salad, combine the lobster, celery, mayonnaise, chives and ketchup in a bowl. Stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until ready to use.
- Cut two ½-inch thick slices from the middle of the tomato. Season with salt.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add ¼ inch of canola oil. While the oil heats, dust the tomato slices with flour. Dip in the egg then the panko and the fry until golden, about 1 minute per side.
- Drain on paper towels.
- Combine the avocado and cilantro in a blender (or use a stick blender). Add the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth.
- To serve, spread some of the avocado puree on a plate. Top with a tomato slice and then pile some of the lobster salad on top. Garnish with chives, if desired. Serve immediately.
- NOTE: this fed 2 of us for lunch. If serving as a first course, make 4 tomato slices and divide the lobster among 4 plates.
This looks delicious, simple but elegant. I will give it a try, for sure!
This sure looks fancy but easy to make! Pinning for later, when lobster goes on sale in my area. 🙂
Thanks Trish! Let me know how you like it when you do get a chance to make it!
Hi
I assume you meant two 1/2” slices of tomato vs 2 1/2” (very thick!). Also, I am assuming the tomato slices must be dipped in egg before the panko crumbs – instructions don’t mention what to do with the beaten egg.
Hi Buck – yes two 1/2″ thick slices 🙂 and you are correct on the egg. I’ll edit the recipe – thanks for pointing out my error! I can’t wait for summer here to make this one again.
Erin