Lobster Pie
This Lobster Pie recipe is unapologetically rich and delicious — a celebration food that every New Englander should make at least once.
By Yankee Magazine|Nov 29 2021|
Lobster Pie
Photo Credit: Heath RobbinsThis dish is inspired by the original Lobster Pie recipe from The Publick House in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, which ran in the October 1949 issue of Yankee Magazine. Intensely rich and unforgettably delicious, it’s a celebration food that every New Englander should make at least once.
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Yield:
4 to 6 servings
Total Time:
40 minutes minutesHands-on Time:
25 minutes minutes
For the Topping:
Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/2 cup crushed Ritz-style (butter) crackers
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350° and set a rack to the middle position. Make the topping: In a small bowl, stir together the butter, crackers, paprika, and cheese. Set aside.
For the Filling:
Ingredients
3 tablespoons plus 5 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 cups (12 ounces) chopped cooked lobster meat
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
Garnish: minced chives
Instructions
Next, make the filling: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Add the sherry and boil 1 minute. Add the lobster, stir, and remove from the heat. Strain the juices from the skillet into a liquid measuring cup (reserving the lobster). Set aside.
In a 3- to 4-quart sauce-pan over medium-low heat, melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until the mixture looks smooth and glossy. Stir the half-and-half into the reserved lobster/sherry mixture; then whisk that into the butter/flour mixture. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer, stirring continuously, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
Spoon ½ cup of the sauce into a small bowl. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add this mixture back to the sauce and stir over low heat until the sauce is smooth and thick, 3 minutes; don’t let it boil.
Remove from the heat and add the lobster. Pour the mixture into a medium-size casserole dish and sprinkle with the topping. Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with minced chives.
What do you mean by “3 tablespoons plus 5 tablespoons salted butter ” as stated in “ingredients”
It means that you will need 8 Tbsp total, but not all at the same time. You will need three Tbsp for one part of the recipe, then five Tbsp for a different part.
Made this tonight, it was delicious. My husband lovèd it, the kids loved it. I used 1 cup of fat free half and half and 1/2 cup of buttermilk (because I had some) and cut out a bit of the butter. Used a standard rectangular glass casserole dish 9×11 and doubled the topping mix. Added a few mintutes in the oven, it came out great. This would be great served with rice and or creamed spinach or baked/mashed potato. Very creamy.
Just prepared this recipe and enjoyed it immensely! Agree with Tammy it just needs more topping, or crust. I supplemented with unseasoned bread crumbs – from my memories of the old Hilltop restaurant in Saugas, MA, although they always went overboard. Another benefit of this recipe is using the usually wasted parts of the lobster, like innards, tomalley, and roe. Afterwards I thought the filling was so close to Hollandaise, it might as well include some lemon juice?
Loved Hilltop House
Can this be made a day ahead and baked the next day or should you bake it when making it and reheat?
I’d love to know the answer if you ever got a response. Thank you
I make this recipe every single year as part of our Christmas eve feast of 7 fishes and I always make it a day or two in advance and then bake it off when we get ready to eat…its better than same day as the flavors ” ripen” or meld…try it you wont be dissapointed.
Yes, you can make it ahead, refridgerate then reheat, If using a cracker crumb topping I’d put that on the last 10+ minutes.
I made this for the first time a couple of months ago and had leftovers. At the time, my husband and I decided that the leftovers were even better than the first meal. So, I made this again yesterday, let it set over night, and cooked it today. It was awesome. The flavors had time to ripen like a lobster stew. It took longer to cook, of course, about a half hour. We had it over basmati rice, but it would be equally good over mashed potato. This is an exceptionally good recipe!
When I lived in Boston 20 years ago, I used to go to Jimmy Magg’s “Napoles” Restaurante Bar and Lounge. This is the restaurant with an airplane in the rooftop – hard to miss! Anyhow, they had the very BEST lobster pie. It had a bread crumb topping and the filling was chunks of delicious lobster in a lemon/butter/garlic sauce. Absolutely amazing! I called them recently to see if they still had this dish on their menu. They didn’t. Ugh!
Can this be made without the sherry
NO…its a vital ingredient and it must be dry sherry , not CREAM sherry which is a dessert wine. Dry Marsala wine can be a substitute if no sherry. Sherry is inexpensive and a wonderful flavor enhancer for a lot of savory dishes, well worth the investment.
I live in the Midwest and fresh lobster meat isn’t really an option. Can anyone suggest alternatives? Thanks!
I have made it with shrimp and scallops and it was delicious!
Linda M,
You might try frozen Maine lobster. (Just be sure it isn’t rock or spiny lobster; it must be homarus americanus for the sweet flavor; not the palinuridae species.)
I moved to Indiana from Massachusetts, and I order from Maine Lobster Now. They have high-quality products, and overnight delivery.
Sounds wonderful! I live in south Louisiana I can try .w/ crayfish! But I realize lobster is best!!
The best lobster pie I have ever had was at the Stockyard restaurant in Boston (Brighton). Pair it with the club rump steak. Amazing
I was at the Stockyard grand opening. I loved their lobster pie and a lot of their dishes
The lobster pie recipe from the stockyard is wonderful and delicious! I believe it’s imperative to use fresh lobster because the only real flavor comes from salt and lobster!
Can I use cream sherry instead of dry sherry
NO….too sweet.
You could probably use dry Marsala in place of the sherry!
you could also substitute white (dry) vermouth.
I live on the west coast of scotland- so my question is – what is half and half? Once I know I am making this because it sounds delicious!
Hi Maggie! Half and half is one product that is half whole milk, half heavy cream. If that is not available in Scotland, you could substitute 3/4 cup of each. Hope this helps!
m-m-m-m-m-, this sounds wonderful. Live in Boston all of my life until I retired to Florida 22 year ago. Lobster in Florida not so good. I will make it with lots of shrimp and some scallops.
Hubby and I are also native New Englanders who now call Florida home (going on 30 years!), and you’re right on about Florida lobster ~ nothing can take the place of cold-water “lobstah” !
This looks like a totally differant recipe. I got hilltop lobster pies all the time. Just canned lobster meat, crumbs either with it without and butter in the side. They next ever.
This recipe sounds good, but don’t remember eggs, cream and cheese in that pie
Of course it’s not the Hilltop pie. It’s from the Publik House in the 1940s.
I made this tonight following the directions exactly as written. After combining the butter and sherry and boiling briefly, I added the lobster for a minute and as directed, saved the remaining liquid, which amounted to a tablespoon. I’m not sure where the liquid is supposed to come from. I put the rest together and baked it for 15 minutes. I thought it was very bland. I thought with 1/2 cup of sherry, I would taste it. It was A very, very subtle flavor, not really enough to enhance the dish. We were disappointed. It’s an expensive meal ( we used the meat of 4 lobsters to get 15 ounce of meat). I would not make it this way again.
I just made this recipe and like the previous comments, it had very little flavor. I will not make it again, nor will I recommend this recipe. Very disappointing.
I have had the lobster pie at the Hilltop dozens of times – there was never creme or eggs. It was lobster, breadcrumbs, and butter. Maybe a little lemon. My dad used to tip the lady up front that called out the numbers (to be seated) so he didn’t have to wait so long with six kids.
Virginia, I still remember the Hilltop lazy man’s lobster pie. I would make it the same way. So delicious! It’s nice you have that lovely memory of family dinners there. I miss the Hilltop.
This recipe is fantastic! Better than any lobster pie you could have out at a restaurant. As for the comments, no flavor, bland. I disagree. Maybe not following the recipe correctly. This lobster pie is more like a lobster Newburg. Amazing!!! This is a very special treat. Don’t skimp on the ingredients.
Getting to the club a little late. I found this recipe last min, and gave it a try last night. It was so good. Fun to make, and not all that complicated. It was such a hit, I joined the website. Thank you