Luscious layers of rich cheesy filling in this Crawfish Lasagna flavored with spicy crawfish and a creamy sauce. Hang on now; it's not your usual lasagna nor your everyday crawfish dish!
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Lately, I've had an envie (that is, a desire, if you need an interpretation for my Cajun French) for a Crawfish Lasagna. But it's not the traditional beefy, tomatoey lasagna like this Easy Lasagna Recipe, Step-By-Step. I came up with that classic version after many years of trial and error. I've discovered it's all in the way you layer the flavors. I enjoy making it for friends and family and I hope you give it a try!
Now, this one is a twist on that Italian classic. I'd heard of a Crawfish Lasagna before and thought it sounded delicious. So, I asked my sisters if they'd ever had one. They said no. So I got busy in my mama's kitchen with help from her recipe books and the internet and came up with this tasty dish. And even though I thought it was good, it became even better with my older sister's approval and her advice on how to add even more flavor to it. Here are the results.
The Layers of Flavors
Start by cooking the lasagna noodles. I take a shortcut and soak them in a shallow oblong dish of very hot tap water for about twenty minutes without draining. It's much easier than boiling and draining them before assembling. The pasta is softened then finishes cooking during the baking.
Next, make the filling with cream cheese, mozzarella, an egg, and some Italian seasoning. Salt and pepper it up and set it aside because now it's time to cook up some crawfish in the Cajun trinity. That's onion, bell pepper, and celery sautéed in some fat if you didn't already know. And don't forget the garlic! Can you smell it?
After you set the crawfish aside, make a simple Alfredo sauce with butter, garlic, flour, milk, and cheese. You'll be pouring this over the top when everything else is assembled in your dish.
After you pour the sauce over the last layer of crawfish then it's time to bake and serve.
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Crawfish Lasagna
A rich and creamy crawfish treat full of flavor layered with pasta and lots of cheese.
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
6 ounces oven-ready or regular lasagna noodles
Filling
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Crawfish
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons salted butter
1 cup chopped onion, 1 medium onion
½ cup sliced celery, 2 celery stalks
¾ cup chopped green bell pepper, ½ large pepper
7 ounces stewed tomatoes, half can
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 pound raw crawfish, fat included
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more
¼ teaspoon Cajun Seasoning, or more
Sauce
1 ½ tablespoons salted butter
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup shredded parmesan cheese, packed
½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese, packed
Garnish
Breadcrumbs
Shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8"x11" or 9"x9" deep dish pan with cooking spray.
Lasagna noodles
Cook according to package or soak in very hot water for 20 minutes in a shallow oblong pan, drain.
Filling
Mix all filling ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
Crawfish
Heat butter and oil until butter is melted.
Cook onion, celery, pepper, and tomatoes for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic in the last few minutes of cooking.
Add crawfish and cook for 20 minutes, covered, occasionally stirring on medium to low heat.
Sauce
Melt butter in a saucepan and saute' the garlic until it is aromatic.
Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
Add milk and cook until it starts to thicken.
Add cheeses and stir until they are melted into the sauce; turn off the heat and set aside.
Assembling
Spread a little of the sauce in the casserole dish.
Add half of the noodles, then spread half of the cheese filling on top.
Spoon half of the crawfish on top of the cheese filling, then layer with the other half of the noodles.
Spread the other half of the cheese filling, then the rest of the crawfish on top.
Lastly, pour the sauce over the lasagna spreading to cover.
Garnish with breadcrumbs and more shredded parmesan cheese
Baking
Bake for 45 minutes covered with foil, then 10 minutes uncovered.
Let lasagna sit for a few minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Soaking the lasagna in very hot water for 20 minutes tenderizes the noodles to al dente, then they finish cooking during the baking of the casserole.
You can also use oven-ready lasagna pasta; I usually soak these to ensure they cook all the way during baking, also.
This recipe doubles easily baked in a 9'x13' deep dish pan.
You can also prepare the lasagna ahead of time to bake or refrigerate or even freeze it, and then defrost when you are ready to bake and serve.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Cajun
Keywords: Crawfish Lasagna, Lasagna, Cajun Pasta, Crawfish Pasta Dish, Crawfish Casserole
Yum, this Crawfish Lasagna is sooooo good!
"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."
Vincent Van Gogh
