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Seafood Pesto Lasagna

17/11/2023

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

Ingredients

  • 12 sheets of fresh lasagna (or pre-boiled if dry)
  • 500 g of mixed seafood of your choice (such as prawn tails, squids, cuttlefish, mussels, and clams)
  • 200 g of Genovese pesto (basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, pecorino, extra virgin olive oil, salt)
  • 250 ml of béchamel sauce (butter, flour, milk, nutmeg, salt)
  • 200 g of mozzarella or fiordilatte
  • 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 you are using mussels and clams, let them open in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a splash of white wine, then shell them while preserving the filtered cooking water.

  2. In a large pan, quickly sauté the seafood with a drizzle of oil and season 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 prevent them from becoming chewy.

  3. Prepare the Genovese pesto if not already ready. If you are making 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 a homogeneous sauce is obtained.

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

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

  6. Cut the mozzarella or fiordilatte 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.

Curiosity

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