Every year, my family’s church has a “pot luck” dinner for it’s parish. For those not in the know, a “pot luck” dinner is where each attendee of a party, dinner or gathering brings something to the table to be enjoyed by all.
Last year I made crab cakes on behalf of my family and my mom has reminded me that the St. Nicholas pot luck is upon once again.
The one catch with this dinner is that it has to be a fasting menu. No red meat. So, I consulted with “the momma” and we brainstormed a few ideas and we came up with a seafood lasagna.
This recipe is easy, uses inexpensive seafood (bay scallops & shrimp) and above all, it’s creamy and delicious.
Since this was also an experiment, this recipe is small (made six pieces) and you can certainly double or triple the measurements to comply with your needs.
Seafood Lasagna
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 head of broccoli, broken up into florets
equal amount of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of grated carrot
1 clove of garlic, smashed
salt and pepper to taste
few springs of fresh thyme
1 lb. of deveined, shelled shrimp
1 lb. of bay scallops
6 lasagna sheets (fresh or oven ready)
Grated Mozzarella cheese
Bechamel sauce
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of grated Asiago cheese
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. of freshly grated nutmeg
8″ X 5″ casserole dish, greased
Preheat your oven to 400F, middle-top rack
- Get a large skillet onto medium high heat and add your butter, onions and a dash of salt. Add your broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and thyme and stir to coat everything. Cover the skillet, lower heat to just under medium and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, remove thyme sprigs and reserve.
- Start your Bechamel sauce. Add your butter into a large pot and when it starts to bubble, add your flour, lower heat to medium and constantly stir until the mixture has formed a paste and it’s turned yellow-light brown. Now add your milk, keep on stirring under medium high heat. (If you get lumps, break them up with a potato masher)
- Once your mixture has thickened, add your grated Asiago in batches and keep on stirring until it’s all melted in and your Bechamel has become thick. Add your nutmeg and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Add a couple of ladles of Bechamel sauce to your reserved skillet of vegetables plus your reserved shrimp and scallops. Mix to incorporate the seafood, vegetables and Bechamel and reserve.
- Assemble your lasagna. Spoon some Bechamel onto the bottom of your casserole. Lay your first layer of lasagna sheets. Next, spread a layer of seafood & vegetable mixture then grated Mozzarella and Bechamel. Repeat once more.
- Finish off your lasagna with a pasta layer, Bechamel sauce and lots of grated Romano cheese.
- Place onto the middle-high rack of a pre-heated 400F oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the lasagna has nicely browned. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
23 Responses
Inexpensive seafood you say? Okay, I am moving to your neck of the woods.
As always, Peter your food is appealing and delicious.
Cynthia, I can get a bag of shrimp and bay scallops for $3.00 each (frozen).
It looks wonderful with the creamy beschiamella. How did it taste?
oops, you said it was delicious, just as I thought! haha..hey..it’s early and I didn’t have my coffee yet :)
Peter, this looks Gourgeous!!!!! I’m gonna buy the ingredients this afternoon and I’m doing it for supper… I didn’t have anything planned yet. My dauther will be soooo happy!
Nuria, your family will enjoy it very much!
Looks delicious Peter!!!! I’m sure there will be plenty of delicious foods at the pot luck.Yammas!
Looks delicious as always. I just want to share a tip with you. I stopped using butter in the bechamel cream some time now and use olive oil. It’s much better and healthier.
Hi Peter,
Can you tell me where you buy your seafood? I live in the west end (Etobicoke) of Toronto…hubby is a Costco shopper but I find it too expensive there.
Thanks!
Kimberley
Ivy, next time I make a Bechamel, I’ll try using olive oil, thanks for the tip.
Kimberley, I’m in the east end and we have lots of Asian markets. Look for an Asian supermarket in the west and you’ll find a good selection of frozen, quality seafood.
As for fresh, the consistency is spotty and you need to be in the know for spotting good , fresh fish.
Woah! Not my idea of a fast! That looks amazingly rich and delicious. I actually think bay scallops are better than the big ones – but shh! Let others have their bigger must be better attitude, and leave those tasty little bay scallps to us.
Now that is what I call a seafood lasagna! Those pictures look so delicious, great post. :)
Hola Peter… guess what we had yesterday for dinner???
Mmmmmmmmmm
Nuria, did you? Please tell me more about how it turned out!
It turned out delicious!!!!!!!!! My daugther is still licking her fingers ;-)
The thing is that I changed some things: I didn’t put Asiago and Romano cheese (sorry I don’t like strong flavour cheese) and didn’t know what bay scallops were (so that was missing). Also I fried the shrimps a bit with the veggies and a garlic clove. The rest I did exactly the same.
Peter, I hope you don’t mind I changed this few things… ;-)
Nuria, I’m glad the lasagna was enjoyed. You’re perfectly in your right to change the recipe to suit your family’s tastes.
This recipe is making me drool.
Hi Peter,
I made this yummy lasagne as well last night but used sliced crimini mushrooms and chopped asparagus in place of the broccoli and cauliflower – everything else I followed exactly and it was SO good. I am going to make this again and bring it to my in-laws Christmas Eve seafood dinner!
Grazie! Kimberley
Woo Hoo Kimberley…I’m elated to hear that it turned out very well!
It’s also cool seeing people tweak recipes and that’s perfectly OK!
Peter, all of the years I have been cooking and loving seafood, I have never made lasagna with it! I will now! Thanks! Looks yummy!
Maybe you can help me out with something…? I want to order all of my food online from now on because of various reasons, but I don’t know where to go for quality food. I have tried 2 companies so far, Fresh Dining, and and Celebrity Foods, but I wanna get others I can try out. Do you know of any? The main thing I’ve ordered so far is steak. I guess you can say, I’m a steak junkie. LOL!!! From what I have found out (from what I have ordered so far) I think I am able to regulate the quality of beef I buy. I hate going to a store and getting that crappy slab of beef that I have to cut down until there is like nothing left. Hahaha!!!! (its so true though) Anyhow, sorry that I made this comment so long. If you can help me out or point me in a direction where I might find more quality foods online, I would greatly appreciate it. Have a good day or night! (depending on when you read this) LOL!!!!
Hi there!! This recipe looks amazing. However, when in step 2 it reads, “Start you Bechamel sauce…” it talks aboutmelting your butter, then adding….and then the recipe has a (comma). I’m dying to make this, but am unfamiliar with your cuisine so am wanting a clarification if you don’t mind. I usually will start with a recipe as a “base” then experiment. However, I want to try this one “by the book” first.
Hi Jenn, good eye. It should then read add flour. Let me know how the Seafood Lasagna turns out.