Fifteen ingredients and an hour and a half, including the rest before it is cut.
Both kinds of seafood are handled gently. The shrimp are barely cooked before they go in, and the crab stays cold until it is layered, because the oven finishes both.
How the Layers Go In
There is no tomato in this lasagna and no spinach either. What replaces them is a Parmesan cream sauce, and the two seafoods are treated differently on the way in: the shrimp are part-cooked, the crab is not cooked at all.
WHITE SAUCE first
2 tbsp BUTTER with 3 MINCED GARLIC CLOVES and 3 tbsp FLOUR, then 3 cups WHOLE MILK and 1 cup HEAVY CREAM GRADUALLY ADDED, SIMMERED UNTIL THICK, with 1 cup FINELY GRATED PARMESAN STIRRED IN. A spoonful goes down before the first noodles so they do not stick.
NOODLES - just flexible
9 LASAGNA NOODLES COOKED UNTIL JUST FLEXIBLE AND DRAINED. Undercooked on purpose: they finish in the sauce over forty minutes in the oven.
RICOTTA, bound with EGG
15 oz RICOTTA mixed with 1 LARGE EGG, half of 1 tsp SALT and 1/4 tsp BLACK PEPPER. The egg is what sets this layer so a square holds together.
SHRIMP - barely cooked
12 oz LARGE SHRIMP, PEELED, DEVEINED AND CHOPPED, COOKED BRIEFLY IN 1 tbsp BUTTER UNTIL JUST TURNING OPAQUE, then REMOVED. The cue for shellfish is pearly and opaque, and the bake will take them the rest of the way.
CRAB - straight from the fridge
8 oz REAL LUMP CRAB MEAT, PICKED OVER and KEPT CHILLED until it is layered. Real crab rather than imitation changes both the texture and the allergens.
MOZZARELLA, then repeat
2 cups SHREDDED LOW-MOISTURE MOZZARELLA over the seafood, with the whole sequence REPEATED and FINISHED WITH WHITE SAUCE AND MOZZARELLA - the browned top in the photograph.
BAKED COVERED 25 MINUTES, then UNCOVERED 15 TO 20 MINUTES MORE UNTIL BUBBLING AND BROWNED, and RESTED 15 MINUTES BEFORE CUTTING, with 1 tsp DRIED PARSLEY to finish. Shrimp and real crab are both shellfish allergens; leftovers are refrigerated promptly.
How to Make It
Oven at 375°F, noodles cooked just flexible
Heat the oven to 375°F. Cook the lasagna noodles until just flexible and drain.
Shrimp barely cooked and removed; crab kept chilled
Cook the shrimp briefly in 1 tablespoon of the butter until just turning opaque, then remove. Keep the lump crab chilled.
Garlic, flour, milk and cream simmered with Parmesan
Melt the remaining butter, cook the garlic, whisk in the flour, then gradually add the milk and cream. Simmer until thick and stir in the Parmesan.
Ricotta mixed with egg, salt and pepper
Mix the ricotta with the egg, half the salt and the black pepper.
Layered twice, finishing with sauce and mozzarella
Layer white sauce, noodles, ricotta mixture, shrimp, crab and mozzarella in a baking dish, repeating and finishing with white sauce and mozzarella.
Baked covered then uncovered, rested 15 minutes
Bake covered 25 minutes, uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until bubbling and browned. Rest 15 minutes before cutting and finish with the dried parsley.
Ingredient Notes
- Real lump crab meat
- Eight ounces, picked over. Use real crab, not imitation crab, which carries different allergens.
- Large shrimp, chopped
- Twelve ounces, cooked only until just opaque so the bake does not toughen them.
- Milk, cream and Parmesan
- Three cups, one cup and one cup - the alfredo-style sauce that replaces tomato here.
- Ricotta with one egg
- Fifteen ounces bound with an egg, which is what lets the slices stand up.
Why This Recipe Works
- Cooking the noodles only until flexible stops them going soft in a long bake.
- Taking the shrimp out while they are just turning opaque leaves room for the oven.
- Keeping the lump crab chilled until layering protects its texture.
- An egg in the ricotta sets that layer so the slices hold their shape.
- Covering the dish for the first twenty-five minutes heats it through before it browns.
Success Tips
- Pick the crab over for shell before it goes anywhere near the dish.
- Whisk the milk in gradually; a seafood lasagna is unforgiving of a lumpy sauce.
- Rest it the full fifteen minutes - cutting early makes the layers slide.
Serving Ideas
Eight squares, each showing pale pasta sheets with white alfredo sauce, pink shrimp and lump crab between them, under a browned cheese top with dried parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use imitation crab?
No. This recipe calls for real lump crab meat. Imitation crab is a different product with different allergens.
Does this contain shellfish?
Yes. Both the shrimp and the real crab are shellfish, and both are central to the recipe.
Why does it need to rest?
Fifteen minutes lets the white sauce set enough to cut clean squares. Straight from the oven it runs.
