Lu's Ludicrous 'Lobsta' Bake Pizza

Knowing how much we miss the taste of sweet Maine lobsters now that we reside in Arizona, my sister Luann surprised us on one of our trips to Connecticut by preparing an old fashioned New England lobster bake.  She kicked off the festivities with an appetizer of three dozen huge shrimp swimming in cocktail sauce.  They were so big, they looked like lobster tails!  Then, the ludicrous lobster bake began.  Lu, AKA the queen of excess, served a quarter bushel littleneck clams, a quarter bushel mussels, 15 one and one half pound lobsters, 4 dozen ears of corn and enough melted butter to float a small fishing boat.  You may be asking why I call this 'ludicrous'.  Well, truth be told, there were not twelve guests, not even ten.  No, there were only five of us at her table that night!  We talked and laughed and we ate, and ate, and ate until we could eat no more.  Amazingly, we didn't even have to trek to a beach and build a fire pit- she did it all in her kitchen.   


This pizza is my version of Lu's lobster bake and although it may take more preparation time than you would normally spend making a pizza, you will experience the taste of a traditional New England lobster bake with each bite, making it well worth the effort.

After stretching the dough into a large rectangular shape, I liberally brushed it with melted garlic infused butter into which I had stirred fresh chopped parsley and chives.  I topped this with a layer of shredded mozzarella, fontina and Parmigiano cheese onto which I nestled the clams and roasted corn kernels.  Pieces of oven roasted tomatoes, cooked diced red bliss potatoes and some sliced, smoked Cajun Andouille sausage covered the clam and corn layer which was then topped with the remainder of the cheese blend.  I was going for the layering here that one finds at a true clam or lobster bake - minus the seaweed of course.  While the pizza baked on a hot stone on my grill, I sautéed cooked chunks of lobster in the remaining garlic/herb butter.  This was the crowning glory - gently placed over the entire pizza as soon as it came off the grilI.  I finished the pizza with a hit of lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice, more grated Parmigiano, red pepper flakes and sea salt.  Upon taking my first bite, I could almost smell the smoke from the fire pit and hear the waves crashing onto the shore as the sun set on Russian Beach in Lordship.

Look for this recipe in Pizza Memoirs or drop me a note and I will gladly share it with you.