International Recipe : Baked Seafood Lasagne

Lasagne Con Frutti Di Mare

A mélange of seafood cooked with white wine and layered between pasta sheets, this is a lighter variation of the classic meat-filled lasagna. Accompany the dish with a simple salad dressed with an olive oil-vinegar vinaigrette and fresh bread to mop up the creamy sauce. It is perfect for a dinner party as it can be assemble up to a day in advance and popped in the oven before serving.

Ingredients:

Bechamel sauce

• 570ml milk
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 10 peppercorns
  
• ¼ onion, thickly sliced
  
• 70g butter
  
• 70g flour
  
• Ground nutmeg

Seafood filling:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 250g fish fillet, cut into bite-sized chunks
  
• 200g raw tiger prawns, peeled, deveined and cut into two
  
• 200g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
  
• ¼ glass white wine
  
• Chopped parsley

• 9-12 lasagne sheet
  
• ½ quantity Arrabbiata sauce
  
• Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

To make the béchamel sauce:

1. Place the milk in a saucepan with the bay leaf, peppercorns and onion. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
2. Strain the milk. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, stir in the flour and cook the mixture (which is known as a roux) for about 40 seconds.
3. Gradually whisk in the infused milk little by little. Keep whisking to obtain a smooth, thick sauce.
4. Once all the milk has been incorporated, let the sauce boil for a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat.

To make the seafood filling:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onion until golden.
2. Add the garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Season the seafood with salt and pepper. Add fish to the pan with a little more oil if necessary and fry until just cooked. Remove and add to the onion and garlic.
4. Put the squid and prawns into the hot pan and cook just until the prawns have turned pink and the squid, barely cooked through. Remove and add the mixture to the fish.
5. Pour the wine into the same pan and boil vigorously to reduce by half. Turn off the heat and return all the seafood to the pan with the chopped parsley, combining thoroughly.

Assembling the lasagna.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare the lasagna sheets according to the packet instructions.
2. Smear some béchamel sauce on the bottom of a buttered, large ovenproof dish and arrange a layer of lasagna sheets on it.
3. Place half the seafood upon the pasta sheets and top with dollops of béchamel sauce and Arrabbiata sauce. Repeat for another layer, reserving a little béchamel sauce.
4. Cover with a final layer of lasagna sheets and spread on the remaining béchamel sauce. Sprinkle over grated Parmesan.
5. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbling, or leave the assemble lasagna in the fridge for up to one day.
6. If baking straight from the fridge, it will need about 50 minutes in the oven.
7. Serve immediately with a mixed salad.