Il Cucinologo
EN

Seafood Lasagna with Pesto

17/11/2023

Seafood pesto lasagna is a maritime reinterpretation of the classic Italian dish, combining the flavors of the sea with traditional Genoese pesto. Here’s how to prepare them.

Ingredients

  • 12 sheets of fresh lasagna (or previously blanched if dry)
  • 500 g of mixed seafood of your choice (for example shrimp tails, calamari, cuttlefish, mussels and clams)
  • 200 g of Genoese pesto (basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, pecorino, extra virgin olive oil, salt)
  • 250 ml of béchamel (butter, flour, milk, nutmeg, salt)
  • 200 g of mozzarella or fior di latte
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

  1. Prepare the seafood by shelling the fish if necessary and clean them thoroughly. If using mussels and clams, open them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a splash of white wine, then shell them keeping the filtered cooking water.

  2. In a large pan, quickly sauté the seafood with a drizzle of oil and adjust with salt and pepper. Add the cooking water from the mussels and clams to flavor and create a light cooking base. Do not overcook them to avoid making them rubbery.

  3. Prepare the Genoese pesto if you don’t have it ready. If preparing it yourself, blend in a mixer washed and dried basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic (to taste), parmesan, pecorino, a pinch of salt and extra virgin olive oil until you get a homogeneous sauce.

  4. Prepare a not too thick béchamel by melting the butter, adding the flour and stirring quickly to avoid lumps, then pour in the milk little by little. Cook until the béchamel reaches a velvety consistency, and add a pinch of salt and nutmeg.

  5. Assemble the lasagna in a baking dish alternating layers of lasagna, béchamel, seafood and pesto. The final layer should be béchamel with a sprinkling of parmesan on top.

  6. Cut the mozzarella or fior di latte into cubes and distribute it evenly over the lasagna.

  7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 30 minutes or until the surface appears golden and crispy.

  8. Let the seafood lasagna rest for a few minutes before serving.

Trivia

While traditional lasagna is a rich comfort food from central Italy, particularly Emilia, seafood lasagna is a lighter and more fragrant variation that marries the flavors of Ligurian pesto with the freshness of fish, typical of Italian coastal regions.