Crab, Haddock and Leek Lasagne

This appears to be well worth stealing. If you are a true seafood lover don't let the complicated instructions intimidate you. It is truly a labor of love. Call me a fool if you will, but I have the time to investigate many recipes. I found many some that use imitation crab. I may be a thief and a liar, but I won't judge anyone for taking shortcuts or the easy way.

So...................

Read the recipe all the way through then gather ingredients and grab your scale.

By Diana Henry, the telegraph's award-winning cookery writer

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8 Servings

Ingredients:

750g leeks, trimmed, sliced and washed

25g butter, plus extra for greasing4

50g spinach

700g haddock fillets, skin removed

300g white crabmeat

75g brown crabmeat

75g Parmesan, grated

250g fresh lasagne sheets

For the béchamel sauce:

925ml whole milk

8 black peppercorns

1 onion, peeled and halved

2 bay leaves

75g butter

100g flour

75ml dry vermouth

100 ml double cream

Generous amount of freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions:

• Put the leeks and butter into a heavy-bottomed pan and cook for about 4 minutes over a medium-high heat. Turn the heat down, season with salt and pepper, and add a splash of water. Cover and sweat leeks for about 14 minutes. If the mixture is a little wet turn the heat up, leave the lid off to boil off the excess moisture. Set aside.

• Wash the spinach and put in a large saucepan with the water that clings to it. Cover and put over a medium heat. Allow it to wilt for about 6 minutes, turning the spinach over halfway through. Drain and leave to cool. Squeeze or spin out the water – this is really important – then chop the spinach and add it to the leeks.

• Heat, stirring everything together, and season with salt and pepper. Make sure the leek and spinach mix isn’t at all ‘watery’ (if it is, keep it over the heat until a little drier).Heat the oven to 350. Butter a 11 x 7 inch baking dish.

• Put the milk in a sauté pan or wide saucepan with the peppercorns, onion halves and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and leave for 30 minutes to infuse. Put the pan back over a medium-low heat and add the haddock fillets. Poach for 5 minutes. Lift the fish out with a slotted spoon, set aside and cover. Strain the poaching liquor into a quart jar.

• Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the flour. Stir for 2 minutes over low heat. The mixture will come together in a large lump and turn the colour of straw. Remove from the heat. Gradually add the vermouth, followed by the poaching liquor, beating well after each addition to keep the sauce smooth. When all the poaching liquor has been added, bring to the boil, stirring, and allow the sauce to thicken. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes (to cook the flour in the sauce). Add the cream, season well and add the nutmeg.

• Break the haddock into large chunks and mix with both the white and brown crabmeat in a separate bowl.

• Spread some of the sauce in the bottom of the buttered baking dish, then sprinkle with Parmesan. Add a layer of lasagne sheets. Spoon a layer of leeks and spinach on top, then a layer of haddock, then crab, followed by more sauce and more Parmesan. Continue with a layer of pasta, one of leeks and spinach, one of haddock and crab, and another layer of pasta.Put the rest of the fish on top, then a final layer of pasta, then the rest of the sauce. Scatter on the remaining Parmesan and bake for 40 minutes.

Note:

Cut the lasagne sheets to fit the baking dish – they shouldn’t overlap. Leave the lasagne to ‘rest’ for 15 minutes or so before serving to help settle the layers.

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See where I pirated this:

Google Crab, Haddock, and Leek Lasagne The Telegraph