Butter-Poached Lobster with Bicolour Tagliolini

For the plated portion, weigh 35 g of yellow dough and 35 g of black dough after resting and before the final roll. Keep the two colours equal by weight so neither dominates the plate.

Final pasta specification: 0.8-1.0 mm thick, 2-3 mm wide, approximately 28-32 cm long. Keep the ribbons cleanly separated and use only enough semola for them not to stick.

The bisque must coat a spoon in a thin, glossy film before it reaches the pasta pan. If it runs like stock, reduce it further before service.

The lobster must remain pearly, supple and moist. It must never acquire fried edges in the butter.

Use a warm plate, but not one so hot that the butter breaks on contact. The final plate should arrive glossy and fluid, with no pool of sauce beneath the shell.

Reserve the best-looking intact shell section before breaking the remaining shell for the bisque.

Scrape and rinse the presentation shell thoroughly, removing membrane, tomalley and any loose protein. Dry it completely.

Brush it with the 3 ml olive oil as a barely visible film. Bake at 180°C for 8-10 minutes until dry, aromatic and naturally glossy. Do not darken it.

Hold the shell warm and dry. Do not cover it, because trapped steam removes the gloss and softens the surface.

Roll each colour separately through the pasta machine, reducing the setting gradually rather than jumping directly to the final thickness.

Finish at 0.8-1.0 mm. Cut both colours 2-3 mm wide and keep them in separate loose nests until the water is ready.

Cook in well-salted boiling water. Fine fresh tagliolini will normally need about 60-90 seconds, but texture decides the endpoint: tender through the centre with a slight bite, never chalky and never soft.

Lift the pasta directly from the water, keeping a small quantity of pasta water available for the emulsion.

Warm 120 ml of the bisque in a wide sauté pan over medium heat. It should simmer gently, not boil hard.

Add the drained tagliolini and toss continuously for 30-45 seconds. Add pasta water by teaspoons only if the emulsion tightens before the pasta is coated.

Use up to the remaining 30 ml bisque only if needed. The finished pasta must be lacquered strand by strand, with no free sauce sitting in the pan.

Taste and correct the salt only after the pasta has been emulsified, because both the pasta water and the reduced bisque contribute seasoning.

Warm the butter-poached lobster gently in a spoonful of its own strained beurre monté. Do not return it to high heat.

Set the polished shell slightly off-centre on the warm plate so it reads as the vessel rather than a garnish.

Interlace the yellow and black tagliolini as one compact, controlled nest inside the shell. Keep both colours visible from the guest's first view.

Place the lobster tail and claw meat naturally over the pasta, showing the best surfaces upward rather than chopping it into small pieces.

Spoon 15-20 g of the strained garlic-herb lobster butter over the meat and the top of the pasta.

Wipe the plate and serve immediately. Do not add decorative herbs, flowers, crumbs or leaves. The lobster, shell, two-colour pasta and gloss of the bisque are the presentation.