Jack Chaplin learned how to make lobster fra diavlo (literally, “brother of the devil”) during a long-ago apprenticeship. A TV show brought the dish to mind around the time he was opening Daddy Jack’s on Greenville Avenue.
“I hadn’t made a dish in a long time,” he says. “I thought of it when the ‘Today’ show went to a restaurant called Daily Catch in Boston where they were working with a live lobster.
“My twist was the addition of the shellfish. All the flavor of the shellfish is cooked into the sauce.”
This seafood-plus version of the lobster fra diavlo has become one of the restaurant’s biggest sellers, with up to 40 of the dishes served during the weekend. Amateur chefs can proceed with confidence in making this small-scale version.
Assures Chaplin: “It’s real easy.”
LOBSTER FRA DIAVLO
1 cooked lobster (tail split, claws cracked)
8 clams
10 mussels
10 peeled shrimp
4 cups linguini
3 cups marinara sauce
4 tbls. garlic butter
2 tbls. red pepper flakes
3 oz. white wine
2 tbls. chopped garlic
Place 1 tbl. garlic butter, chopped garlic and red pepper flakes in saute pan. Cook until garlic is slightly browned. Add all seafood and cook for two minutes. Add marinara sauce, white wine and remaining garlic butter. Cook until clams and mussels open, and sauce is very hot. Serve over linguini and garnish with chopped green onions or chopped parsley. Serves two.
