Seafood Lasagne (Lasagne aux Fruits de Mer)

Seafood Lasagne

The last time I made a Seafood Lasagne we were still living in Paris. In fact we were in temporary dwellings having returned earlier than planned from Spain (2 weeks before I gave birth to Baby Girl) and not being able to recover our own flat from the tenants.

It was for Hub's birthday. I've thrown him a surprise birthday party, inviting his family and best friend SB. He came back from a business trip to find all these folks waiting for him at home. Cool, wasn't it?

One of the dishes I've prepared was this seafood lasagne. It's easy to make and can feed a decent number of people. My version has 2 different layers of seafood with 2 different sauces, and a garlicky cheesy béchamel.

I made this again nearly 10 years later for the lunch I threw the neighbours (8 of them) a few weeks ago. I guess I stopped making it firstly because the Babies do not eat fish and secondly as we've lived 4 years in Italy making it unnecessary to cook one's own lasagne.

It was well received by my guests and Hub had the leftovers to his delight - and asked why I've stopped making it all these years. I should make it more often, it's true.

The Teenager is away in Singapore for 3 weeks and the Babies are now on holiday. I've decided not to cook too much nowadays as we all need to lose some weight, though I've a few friends coming over for lunch tomorrow. I guess the diet will have to wait another few days.

Seafood Lasagne :

rectangular pasta dough (9-12 sheets depending on how many layers you'll be making)

boiling water

1 large zucchini (sliced lengthwise)

100g grated parmesan cheese

200g grated emmenthal, cheddar, gruyere or mozzarella cheese

6-8 fresh sage leaves

The Prawn and Scallop Layer :

2 dozen large prawns (peeled and gutted)

a dozen scallops

olive oil

2 cloves garlic (sliced)

red chilli (sliced)

1 tsp fennel seeds

a sprinkling of thyme leaves

a few cherry tomatoes (halved)

salt and pepper to taste

The Cod Fish and Salmon Layer :

1 large filet of cod fish

1 large filet of salmon

salt and pepper to taste

red bell pepper sauce*

The Béchamel :

olive oil

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 l milk

3 tbsp white wine

a pinch of nutmeg

2 bay leaves

1 tsp crushed black pepper

80g butter

65g plain flour

150g grated parmesan cheese

salt to taste

*Red Bell Pepper Sauce :

1 large red bell pepper

olive oil

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp white vinegar

1 tbsp crème fraiche

Blanche the lasagne pasta sheets in boiling water, remove and set aside.

Grill the salmon and cod fish in a bit of olive oil. Season and cut into large cubes. Set aside.

Fry the garlic and chilli in some olive oil till fragrant. Add in fennel seeds, followed by the raw scallops. I usually salt the raw prawns for 10 minutes and then rinse them in order to have prawns that will not release too much water when they are being cooked. Add the prawns and sprinkle some thyme leaves over them. Toss in the tomatoes and season to taste. Set aside.

Prepare the red bell pepper sauce by cooking the largely sliced pepper in olive oil with the garlic in a small pot, covered and on low heat. When it is soft and fragrant, remove from the heat, add the cream and vinegar, season and mix into a rough sauce with a hand mixer. Set aside.

Prepare the béchamel. Gently boil the milk with the bay leaves, nutmeg and pepper. Remove the bay leaves and set aside.

Fry the garlic in olive oil till fragrant, melt the butter in it and stir in the flour. Pour in the milk bit by bit taking care to stir all the time. The flour needs to be cooked or the sauce will taste horrible. Bring the sauce to the boil gently, stir in the wine, remove from the fire and stir in the parmesan cheese. Salt to taste.

Olive oil your lasagne dish and heat your oven to 220°C/425°F.

Place a layer of pasta sheets in the dish and spread the prawns and scallops over them. Pour some béchamel on them, sprinkle over some parmesan cheese and cover with a layer of sliced zucchini. Top with more béchamel and cover with another layer of pasta sheets.

The next layer will contain the grilled cod fish and salmon, covered with the red bell pepper sauce.

The final layer should be pasta, béchamel, parmesan cheese, sage leaves and a layer of cheese good for melting like emmenthal or mozzarella.

Ready for the oven

Bake for between 30 and 45 minutes - watch that the cheese doesn't burn.