My first experience with Seafood Lasagna came compliments of neighbors who called it “Christmas Lasagna” because it was made the day before. It was put in the oven first thing and set out when done to tide over the family until the official Christmas dinner was served later in the afternoon. It was also Dad food. This meant our neighbor’s dad made it on Christmas Eve and he needed to be out of the very cleaned up kitchen before dark.
Its most appealing quality to me was the absence of tomato sauce which I didn’t like. Plus it was green and made by a man who let me watch the process a couple of times. It was way better than the scrambled egg and toast platter on offer at home. So at the crack of dawn I’d sneak out, careful not to bang the screen door, cross the alley, knock on the neighbor’s back door and oh the smell….shrimp, crab and anise aroma from the basil. The best.
Mr. Dad explained to me at one point that this lasagna was typical of the Genoa area and how our great local hero, Pierre Beauregard’s family were Reggios from the Piedmont which is right next door and how possibly the good general also had Christmas lasagna. Maybe. Probably not, but who knows? Not sure if neighbor dad was attempting to make a spurious connection between his fam, Pierre, Pierre’s great grandfather, Francesco Maria de Reggio, hero of the Napoleonic wars, and our back alley catch of the day casserole but if he was I didn’t notice much because I was too busy eating the lasagna.
But on to the prep. The most important thing with seafood lasagna is to thoroughly cook everything so that when you put the lasagna in the oven the only thing that needs to happen is for the seafood to cook and the flavors to mix. Fish cooks fast so the casserole shouldn’t be in the oven too long. I’ve tested this with all kinds of fish and have found that shrimp, crab, and scallops are best. Finned fish like redfish or drum get overcooked too quickly. And I’ve prepared it with shrimp only and it was fine so you can wing it when you make it, just make sure you have a pound total of whatever you pick.
The basil must be fresh, but the spinach can be fresh or frozen. This version has two sauces, and no ricotta because the ricotta doesn’t do well with the quick cooking time and the mozzarella and parmesan are enough. The main objective is precook everything except the shrimp & crab so that the casserole won’t need to be in the oven too long. It’s thirty minutes covered and five minutes under the broiler for browning.
And last but not least, if you cook lasagna much it pays to get a proper lasagna pan with deep sides so it doesn’t boil over and hit the bottom of the oven. The one pictured below has enough clearance for another layer with a little room to spare.
So try it for your holiday (or any other day)!
- For the white sauce:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- grating of nutmeg
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- For the spinach sauce:
- 1 bunch spinach (or 16 oz. frozen package)
- 1 bunch basil
- ½ cup diced onion (or shallot)
- pinch of fennel powder
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 egg
- salt & pepper to taste
- For assembly:
- ½ lb. medium shrimp
- ½ lb.lump crabmeat
- 1 cup shredded mozarella cheese
- grated parmesan to taste
- 9 boiled lasagna noodles
- lemon zest
- parsley for garnish
- For the white sauce:
- Melt butter over low heat and whisk in flour.
- Cook for a minute till smooth then add salt & nutmeg.
- Slowly whisk in milk then add crushed garlic clove.
- Let simmer over very low heat for about ten minutes to extract the flavor from the bay leaf & garlic then slowly add heavy cream. Stir in the Parmesan, cover & set aside.
- For the spinach sauce:
- Boil spinach just long enough to wilt it, drain, and squeeze as much water out of it as you can.
- Put in a food processor with the uncooked basil leaves and pulse just a couple of times. Don't overdo or you will end up with baby food.
- In a saucepan melt butter & whisk in flour until no lumps remain, then slowly stir in fennel powder, lemon zest, chicken broth and cream.
- Once the sauce has thickened, let cool a little then add to the spinach & basil mixture.
- When it has cooled a little fold in a well beaten egg. Set aside.
- Assembly:
- Lightly oil baking dish. I used a 10"X 6.5" X 3" pan.
- Put enough white sauce on bottom to form a thin layer.
- Place boiled noodles over that.
- Cover noodles with spinach sauce, then evenly place raw shrimp and crab over it & cover that with some of the shredded mozzarella.
- Lay down another layer of noodles, cover with white sauce, then spinach sauce, then seafood & mozzarella.
- Cover with another layer of noodles and remainder of white sauce. Be sure you've left enough white sauce to form a nice thickish layer.
- Grate Parmesan over the top, cover with foil and put in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Place about 5 inches under a 400 degree broiler for 5.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, do not over process the spinach/basil mixture. Just a couple of pulses will do. It should be chunky.
