Aegean Island Astakomakaronada (Αστακομακαρονάδα Αιγαίου)

Astakomakaronada belongs to the Aegean islands, especially the small harbours where lobster was once a fisherman's prize before it became a feast-day dish. It is spiny lobster with long pasta in a light tomato sauce, sweet from the shell, bright with wine, and plain enough that the lobster can speak. The region is the dish's surname.

The method that decides it is the pasta. You don't boil spaghetti in a separate pot and toss it at the end. You cook it just shy of tender, then finish it in the lobster broth and tomato sauce so the starch tightens everything around the strands. That is why a good astakomakaronada tastes of shell from beginning to end, not only where a piece of lobster sits on the fork.

Use the best lobster you can buy, ideally spiny lobster (astakos) with the shell on. If the boats don't bring lobster, make another dish that day. Λίγα και καλά: a few things, and good ones. My notebook has three island versions of this, and the one thing they agree on is restraint. No cheese. No cream. Good olive oil, tomato, shell broth, and patience.