Pull the lobster tail from the body and put on a board, soft underbelly uppermost.
Step 2
Use kitchen scissors to cut along each side of the soft shell to release the central section. Lift out the flesh, cut into four and put in a shallow dish. Discard the shell.
Step 3
Detach the claws and bash with a rolling pin to crack the shell. Remove the flesh and add to the dish with the prawns and mussels.
Step 4
Mix the onion, garlic, chives, red wine vinegar and olive oil together and pour over the shellfish, mixing together gently. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and chill for 30min (though it will keep well for a few hours).
Step 5
Serve in a bowl on a bed of crushed ice or in an ice bowl (see below), with the lobster head for decoration, lemon or lime wedges and plenty of bread.
Take two plastic bowls, each with a capacity of around 3 litres (51⁄4 pints) but one just slightly smaller than the other. Two-thirds-fill the larger bowl with 50 cleaned shells and 36 ice cubes. Position the smaller bowl on top to hollow out a bowl shape in the ice and weight down. Put the bowls in the freezer and pour cold water between the two to fill to the brim. Freeze overnight. To use, pour 300ml (1⁄2 pint) hot water into the inner bowl, leave for 1min, then remove the bowl. Upturn the ice bowl on to a clean tea-towel and lift off the outer bowl.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
