St. George-Seafood Lasagna {Pass the Cookbook}

This month the Pass the Cookbook crew - under the leadership of Kita, the culinary force behind Pass the Sushi - is cooking from Christiane's pick. Christiane blogs at The Mom Chef: Taking on Magazines and chose Sheila Lukins, Julee Rosso, and Sarah Leah Chase's Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook for this month.

As always, we had the choice of three recipes. Our choices this round: Seafood Lasagna, White Chocolate Mousse with Frangelico, and Vegetable Pot Pie. I thought about making combining two of our choices into seafood pot pies, but went with the lasagna. Even though I just made Lasagna alla Puttanesca for our last Pass the Cookbook reveal, in November, I decided to venture down the lasagna path again because this one: (1) involves seafood and (2) includes an anise-flavored liqueur. Ummm...yum. I'm always in when ouzo, sambuca, or their cousins are involved. The original recipe calls for Pernod. I had St. George absinthe; so, I went with that and added in fennel bulb, fennel pollen, and fennel seeds for that extra licorice-y goodness.

St. George-Seafood Lasagna

For the sauce
olive oil

1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 filets of fish, cubed
1 C cut calamari
1 C peeled and cleaned shrimp
1 C scallops

2 C Pomi strained tomatoes

1 ½ t fennel seeds
½ t anise seeds
pinch fennel pollen

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

handful coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 T St. George absinthe

Everything else
no-bake lasagna noodles
fresh ricotta cheese (homemade ricotta is so easy!)
shredded mozzarella
shredded asiago
shredded provolone
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving

Meanwhile, combine the oil, leek, and fennel in large, flat-bottom pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until fennel is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the seafood and cook until opaque. Stir in the tomato sauce and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the spinach, parsley, fennel seeds, anise seeds, and fennel pollen. Stir till the spinach is wilted. Splash in the absinthe.

In a large baking dish, layer: sauce, pasta, cheeses. Sauce, pasta, cheeses. Repeat until your dish is full or you're out of ingredients. Cover with foil. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake for an hour - or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes. 

Bake the lasagna until bubbling and browned, about 50 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Jake and I uncorked one of our Christmas presents to go with the lasagna. Cin cin. This was a great glass of pinot...and a great lasagna. I will definitely be making this again. Dylan asserted, "Mommy, this is the best lasagna ever!" And he didn't even get to have the Belle Glos with it.