Author Notes
This is decadent. It is a helluva lot of work. It is also the single most dramatically delicious recipe I know how to make, and if I am having a dinner party on which depends my next job or a major contract, this is what I'm making. I'm serving it with a lovely stir-fry of something green, like snow peas or asparagus, and some gently roasted plum tomatos, and copious quantities of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, and chocolate pots de creme for dessert, and when everyone leaves, I will have a nervous breakdown. But before they leave, their eyes will roll back in their heads and they will sigh in ecstasy, because this? Is just wonderful. (You have no photo because I haven't made this in four or five years, and I'm not ambitious enough to make it this week.) ((Nods to Emeril Lagasse, whose Coquille St. Jacques recipe forms much of the base for this.) —Kayb
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Ingredients
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6 ounces
lump crabmeat, picked over
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8 ounces
freshest possible scallops
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1 pound
Gulf shrimp
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1
lemon, sliced
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1
small onion, diced
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1
bay leaf
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1 cup
dry white wine
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1 cup
water
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3 tablespoons
unsalted butter
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2 tablespoons
minced shallot
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2
cloves garlic, minced
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6 ounces
white mushrooms, caps only, wiped clean
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2 tablespoons
all-purpose flour
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1/2 cup
milk
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1 teaspoon
fresh lemon juice
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1/2 teaspoon
salt
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1/4 teaspoon
ground white pepper
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1
pinch cayenne
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2 tablespoons
minced fresh tarragon
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1/4 cup
sliced scallions, white and light green parts only
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1/2 cup
heavy cream
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1 cup
shredded Gruyere or Emmenthaler
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1/2 cup
bread crumbs
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1 tablespoon
melted butter
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1 pound
fresh lasagna noodles
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8 ounces
ricotta cheese
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1/2 cup
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
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3 tablespoons
minced parsley
Directions
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Steam crabmeat (or have it steamed for you) and allow to cool.
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Blend crabmeat with ricotta cheese and tarragon, and set aside.
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Put scallops, wine, water, onion, lemon and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Poach scallops just until firm, about 3 minutes. Remove scallops from poaching liquid, and set aside.
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Add shrimp to poaching water in same saucepan. Poach until just turning opaque. Remove from water and set aside to cool.Strain and reserve poaching liquid; discard lemon and bay leaf.
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Shell and devein shrimp and chop roughly. Chop scallops roughly, and add to shrimp.
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In a clean saucepan, melt 2 tbsp butter and saute shallots and garlic over medium heat until translucent. Slice mushrooms and add. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender, about four minutes. Remove from pan.
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Add remaning butter to same pan and melt. Stir in flour and cook, stirring or whisking constantly, until flour smells nutty; do NOT let it start to brown.
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Slowly add reserved poaching liquid, whisking constantly, and cook until starting to thicken. Add milk, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne and bring to a bare boil. Add parsley and green onions, and cook for a minute or two. Add 1/2 of grated Gruyere or Emmenthaler, and remove from heat, stirring to melt cheese. Stir in heavy cream, and keep sauce warm.
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Cook pasta. Working quickly, brush the bottom of a buttered 9 x 13 casserole with a bit of the sauce, and lay down a layer of noodles. Top with ricotta/crab mixture, half the remaining Gruyere/Emmenthaler, and 1/3 of sauce.
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Add a second layer of noodles. Cover with chopped shrimp and scallops, another 1/3 of the grated cheese, and 1/3 of the sauce.
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Add a final layer of noodles, and top with the remainign granted cheese. Spread sauce over.
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Mix grated Parm and bread crumbs and top casserole. Bake at 450 for a scant 10 minutes, and finish off in broiler, if need be, to give the top a nice golden brown finish. Let rest for no more than 10 minutes before serving.
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Note: I have prevailed on a pasta-making friend to make me special lasagna noodles for this, and cut them to fit my 9 x 13 dish. I then boil them one sheet at a time in a big roaster placed across two burners.
I'm a business professional who learned to cook early on, and have expanded my tastes and my skills as I've traveled and been exposed to new cuisines and new dishes. I love fresh vegetables, any kind of protein on the grill, and breakfasts that involve fried eggs with runny yolks. My recipes tend toward the simple and the Southern, with bits of Asia or the Mediterranean or Mexico thrown in here and there. And a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a float in the lake, as pictured, is a pretty fine lunch!
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