Seafood Lasagna

Before cooking

My Aunt Barb in Syracuse, NY, used to make this dish for us when we visited her. Since then it has become a family favorite and a popular Christmas Eve dish. The original recipe from my Aunt used condensed Campbell's Cream of Shrimp Soup (2 cans) slightly thinned with evaporated milk, but I modified it to make a Newburg sauce from scratch. If you don't want to bother with the Newburg sauce, use the Cream of Shrimp soup instead.

To prepare the seafood mixture, chop the cooked cocktail shrimp into 1/2 inch pieces and set aside. Depending on whether you bought sea scallops or bay scallops, chop into 1/2 inch pieces. The tiny bay scallops can be used as is. Mix the scallops with the onion and saute in butter or oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes to release the water from the scallops and soften the onions. The scallops should not be completely cooked, just enough to release any water. Drain off the liquid. Add the shrimp and crabmeat and set aside until you make the sauce.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Stir in the flour and salt to make a roux. Slowly add the milk while stirring, a small amount at a time. Stir to thicken. Add the sherry, Worcestershire, ketchup, and paprika, stirring as it thickens. If it is too thick, add more milk and sherry. You want the sauce to be thin enough to spread but not runny. It should be the consistency of a thick tomato sauce and a nice light orange color. If it is too runny, just add a little tomato paste until thickened.

Beat an egg in a bowl and add the ricotta and basil. Mix thoroughly. 

Add 1/3 a cup of the sauce to the seafood/onion mixture and stir thoroughly to mix. Spread about 1/3-1/2 the sauce on the bottom of a lasagna pan (I use a 9 by 13 pan) and cover with a layer of cooked lasagna noodles. Spread the seafood mixture over the noodles. Place the mozzarella cheese slices over the seafood and cover with another layer of lasagna noodles.

Spread the ricotta layer over the noodles and cover with the remaining lasagna noodles. Pour the remaining sauce over the top layer so it completely covers the noodles and a little bit seems into the layers. Sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese over the top and place the tomato slices on top of the cheddar cheese. Put a pinch of sugar on each tomato slice. Optional: Top with fresh grated Parmesan.

Pop into a 350 degree preheated oven and bake uncovered for about 40 minutes or until bubbly. Place under broiler for a few minutes to nicely brown the top. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.


cooked lasagne noodles (about 9- preferable the curly edged ones)
15 oz container of ricotta cheese or about 2 cups
1 cup (or slightly more) chopped, cooked cocktail shrimp
1 cup chopped raw scallops
1/2 to 1 cup crab meat (can use the imitation kind if you can't get fresh crab meat)
optional: add a chopped lobster tail or lobster meat
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 large tomato sliced thin
1/2 T basil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large egg
Mozzarella ball sliced into 8-10 slices
Butter or olive oil
Sugar

Newburg Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk (substitute 1/2 cup of the milk with light cream if you want a rich sauce)
1/4 cup cooking sherry
pinch of paprika
3 T ketchup
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce