Recipe: Seafood Lasagne (Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook)

SEAFOOD LASAGNE

Seafood sauce:
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups canned plum tomatoes (packed in tomato puree)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tsp. fennel seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
2 Tbsp. Pernod
1 pound medium-size shrimp, shelled, deveined, and poached briefly
1 pound scallops, poached briefly
3 doz. mussels, steamed and shelled
2 doz. littleneck clams, steamed and shelled

1-1/4 pounds lasagne noodles, preferably fresh tomato noodles

Filling:
3 cups ricotta cheese
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
1 pkg. (10 oz.) spinach, cooked, drained, and chopped
1 pound cooked lump crabmeat, shredded
1 sweet red pepper, seeded, cored, and diced
1 bunch scallions (green onions), sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-1/2 pounds mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1) To make the seafood sauce, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. Stir in the wine, basil, fennel seeds, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2) Stir the cream into the sauce and then the Pernod. Stir in all the shellfish and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3) Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
4) Cook the lasagne noodles in boiling salted water until tender but still firm. Drain and cool under cold running water.
5) To make the filling, beat the ricotta, cream cheese, and eggs in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the spinach, crabmeat, red pepper, scallions, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.
6) Butter a large rectangular baking pan. Spread a thin layer of the sauce without any shellfish on the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of noodles. Top with half the filling, then half the seafood aauce. Cover the sauce with a layer of the mozzarella.
7) Place another layer of noodles over the mozzarella and spread with the remaining filling. Top with another layer of mozzarella. Add a final layer of noodles and then the remaining seafood aauce. Cover with the remaining cheese.
8) Bake the lasagne until bubbling and browned, about 50 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

10-12 portions
Source: Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook