Seafood lasagna
- Preparation 45 min
- Cooking 16 min
- Servings 8 to 10
- Freezing Absolutely
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🦐 A follower told me I was missing a seafood lasagna
She was right. She wrote it on my page, just like that, between two comments, and the following week I was making one. A request I filled happily. It helped that I already had something in the back of my head: I had eaten a really good seafood lasagna in the Îles de la Madeleine and never forgot it. I loved that trip. My version starts from that memory, with what I want in a lasagna: lots of seafood, lots of sharp cheese, nothing timid.
🧀 Cheese all the way, including a smoked one
Oka Artisan and smoked Fontina. I love smoked cheese, it really adds depth to the dish, and it is what keeps this white lasagna from tasting like nothing but Parmesan and sauce. Both sit at the cheese counter of any grocery store, this is not a treasure hunt. The bechamel is built with milk and chicken broth, not a drop of cream. The broth is salty, it brings flavour, and everybody has some in the cupboard.
🔥 Twelve minutes in the oven, that is it
Everything is already hot when the lasagna goes in. The sauce comes off the heat and the noodles are already cooked, the seafood too. The oven melts the cheese and the broiler browns it. Ten minutes of rest finish the job. Not forty minutes at 350. I serve it around the holidays, but the moment it starts to get cool outside and you feel like a good lasagna, this one delivers.
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🍝 The number one mistake is overcooking your noodles
They keep cooking a little in the hot sauce, then again in the oven. Al dente, not a minute more. I pour them into a colander and rinse them under cold water right away to stop the cooking, then oil them lightly so they do not stick together. Skip the rinse and you end up with soft noodles that fall apart while you build your layers.
🔢 Why 13 noodles for four layers
Because one always tears. I would rather have a spare. And if it survives, I eat it.
🧀 A lasagna needs cheese all the way
This is where people hold back, and it is a mistake. Along with salt, that is the other trap in this recipe: seasoning it poorly and going light on the cheese leaves you with a pale sauce on noodles.
If you cannot find Oka Artisan, any sharp cheddar will replace it. For the Fontina, any smoked cheese does the job, and a Mont-Dire would be excellent in there. Want to bring the bill down? Mozzarella and sharp cheddar changes the price considerably. My recipes are not built to be cheap, but nothing stops me from giving you the choice.
🥛 The bechamel is a whisk job
Butter, onion, garlic, flour, then you add the milk while whisking. It is the whisk that breaks up the lumps, not the wooden spoon. Then the hot chicken broth, followed by the Parmesan with the Italian seasoning and the nutmeg. A seafood bechamel needs four to five minutes of stirring to thicken, and it has to stay hot until you assemble.
🔥 Twelve minutes in the oven, not forty
Everything is already hot going in. The oven at 400°F (200°C) only reheats and melts the cheese. Then the broiler, three to four minutes, eyes on the glass. It browns fast.
📅 Making it ahead and storing it
I make it the way I give it to you: everything hot, straight into the oven. I do not assemble the lasagna the night before to bake it cold the next day, that is not how I tested it and it changes the timing. What actually works is the freezer. Four to five days in the fridge once baked, three months in the freezer. Cut into pieces, it reheats straight from frozen at 400°F (200°C) for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
✅ What to serve with my seafood lasagna?
Something light to cut through the richness. My white balsamic arugula salad is made for exactly this, it is what I put beside it. For more crunch, the panzanella with arugula and fennel works too. Grilled BBQ asparagus when they are in season, and you have a full meal without weighing the table down.
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Ingredients for the lasagna
- 13 lasagna noodles
- 1 lb (500 g) shrimp, 41-50 count, peeled and tails removed
- 1 lb (500 g) small scallops, 80-120 count
- Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) garlic powder
- 3 cups (750 ml / 320 g) grated Oka Artisan cheese
- 3 cups (750 ml / 320 g) grated smoked Fontina cheese
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Ingredients for the sauce
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) butter
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) flour
- 2 cups (500 ml) milk
- 2 cups (500 ml) hot chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tablespoon (7.5 ml) Italian seasoning
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.5 ml) nutmeg
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Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- In a large saucepan filled with salted boiling water, cook the lasagna noodles al dente according to package directions. Pour into a colander, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and drain. Drizzle a thin dash of olive oil and toss gently to coat. Set aside.
- On several paper towels, put the seafood and press well to remove as much water as possible. Repeat 2-3 times if necessary. Set aside.
- Start the sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the onion and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.
- Add the flour, mix and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add milk and whisk to break up lumps. Add the chicken broth, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, nutmeg, season with salt and pepper and mix. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and reserve.
- In a large skillet over high heat, pour a thin drizzle of olive oil, add the seafood, garlic powder, season with salt and pepper and mix. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until the shrimp are pink. Pour into the sauce and mix.
- In a large bowl, add the cheese and mix.
- In a large lasagna baking dish, pour a small ladle of sauce into the bottom and spread. Add a row of lasagna, a few ladles of sauce and about 1/4 of the cheese. Add another row of lasagna, a few ladles of sauce and 1/4 of the cheese. Add a row of lasagna, a few ladles of sauce and add the last row of lasagna. Pour the rest of the sauce and bury with the rest of the cheese.
- Place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes. Switch the oven to broil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Any sharp cheddar replaces the Oka Artisan without a problem. For the Fontina, any smoked cheese does the job, and a Mont-Dire would be excellent. If I name those two, it is precisely because they are easy to find: they sit at the cheese counter of the grocery store, not only in a specialty shop. For a cheaper version: mozzarella and sharp cheddar. It brings the bill down considerably and it is still a good lasagna. The one thing I would add: do not cut the quantity. A lasagna needs cheese all the way.
Yes. Crab or lobster. Shrimp alone too, if you want to turn it into a shrimp lasagna. What I would watch is the count. My scallops are 80-120, small scallops that cook in three or four minutes in the pan and finish in the oven. With large scallops you will never get there in that time. Same logic for the shrimp: 41-50 is big enough to show up in a bite and small enough that you do not have to cut it.
Because it is easy to get. It is salty, it brings flavour, and everybody has some. I do not use cream either: a bechamel built on milk is very good, and it leaves room for the cheese. If you have fish stock on hand, use it, it will be excellent. But I do not build a recipe around an ingredient you have to go looking for. The point, at the base, is to make recipes that are accessible and easy for everyone.
Four to five days in the fridge once baked, well covered. In the freezer, three months, cooked or uncooked. Cut into pieces it reheats better: oven at 400°F (200°C), straight from frozen, twenty to twenty-five minutes. No need to thaw it the night before. The top browns again and the centre comes back hot.
It is a rich dish, so I go looking for the opposite beside it. A white balsamic arugula salad, plain and simple, or anything light that cuts through the fat. The panzanella with arugula and fennel does the same thing with more crunch. Grilled BBQ asparagus when they are in season. And if you have people over, an olive, fresh herb and parmesan dipping oil with bread keeps everyone busy while the lasagna takes its ten minutes of rest.
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