Lobster Ravioli in a Champagne Cream Sauce

Ravioli:
4 lobster tails
4 tbsp. butter
3 to 4 shallots, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 4 oz. cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
2 1/2 to 3 batches homemade pasta

Sauce:
6 tbsp. butter, divided
2 shallots, finely minced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp. tomato puree
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
3/4 c. champagne
3 tbsp. flour
Heavy cream

Remove meat from lobster tails. Roughly chop and set aside. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add chopped mushrooms and saute a few minutes more. Once shallots are tender, add lobster meat to the skillet and cook, stirring, just until cooked through (this only takes a few minutes). When lobster is cooked, transfer mixture to a cutting board and chop fine with a large knife. Transfer to a bowl. Add ricotta and parmesan cheeses, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Roll out pasta into long sheets. Scoop a couple tsp. lobster filling and roll into a ball. Place on one sheet of the pasta. Continue topping with filling balls every few inches. Once the sheet is covered with filling balls, lay another long sheet of pasta over the top. Press the top sheet down and mold around filling balls (if sheets don’t stick together easily, wet your finger with water or egg and brush lightly between the two sheets). Cut ravioli into desired shapes with a pastry or ravioli cutter. Repeat this process until remaining filling and/or pasta is used up. At this point, you can cook ravioli in boiling water or freeze.

If freezing, transfer finished ravioli to a lightly floured surface and allow to dry for 30 to 60 minutes. Place in a plastic freezer bag and freeze until ready to cook. To cook, drop frozen ravioli into boiling water and boil until cooked to your liking (about 7 to 9 minutes).

To make sauce, melt 3 tbsp. butter in a skillet. Add shallots and carrots and saute until shallots are tender. Add tomato puree; stir and cook until tomato has begun to caramelize a bit, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and champagne and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and allow to reduce to about 1/3. Once sauce has reduced, in small saucepan melt remaining 3 tbsp. butter. Add flour and whisk, cooking 2 to 3 minutes to form a roux. Add roux to skillet and mix well. Whisk in heavy cream until sauce has reached desired consistency (can also add in a bit more champagne at this point). Pass sauce through a strainer to remove carrots and shallots. Serve warm atop the ravioli.

Makes about 70 ravioli.