Food is one of the most sensorily evocative aspects of your wedding day—and not just for the obvious reasons. (It’s tasty!) Most caterers are happy to work with clients to personalize menus that are meaningful to them, whether it’s reinventing a childhood favorite (like Culinary Art Catering’s rigatoni bolognese) or nodding to their family heritage (such as Wendy Krispin Caterer’s Mexican mole grilled quail). If you’d rather plan for the future than look to the past, opt for dishes you can recreate at home on special anniversaries or date nights. Vestals Catering’s lobster fettuccini, for example, is easy enough for an amateur to master. By being intentional with your selections, you can conjure culinary memories on—or of—your special day. 

Vestal Catering’s Lobster & Zucchini Fettuccini

Choosing memory-evoking dishes for your wedding menu will leave a good taste in your mouth.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup finely chopped shallots
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
• 2 medium zucchini, trimmed and diced
• 1½ tbsp fresh mint leaves, minced
• 2 tbsp minced chives
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 6 tbsp heavy cream
• cooked meat from 2 (1¼-lb) lobsters, diced
• 1 lb fettuccine
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest

Steps

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch sauté pan. Add shallot and garlic, and sauté on medium-low until soft but not brown. Add the tomatoes and cook about 5 minutes, until most of their liquid has evaporated. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil and then the zucchini and cook, stirring, 3 minutes or so, until the zucchini is tender but not soft. Fold in 1 tablespoon of the mint and 1½ tablespoons of the chives.
2. Add the feta and cook, stirring, a few minutes, until it softens. Stir in paprika, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the cream, bring to a simmer and cook 2 to 3 minutes until the cream starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the lobster meat.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Cook the fettuccine until al dente, about 6 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta, add to the sauté pan, drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of oil and the lemon zest and toss with the zucchini and lobster mixture. Add pasta water, turn the heat to low, add salt and pepper, if needed, and gently mix the ingredients for no more than 3 minutes, just until heated through. Serve with a scattering of the remaining chives and mint.