Dish of the Week: Shrimp & Scallop Lasagna

This weeks dish, Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna, is a Paula Deen recipe. I don't go out of my way to find dishes by Paula Deen since her dishes usually require lots of butter and something is probably going to be fried. I had some frozen shrimp and scallops in my freezer that I needed to use, and so a quick search on the Food Network website and this one caught my eye. Not too much butter and she uses half and half and not heavy cream! Which I could modify on my own but it was nice to see a dish of hers that wasn't so *heavy*!

Ingredients
12 lasagna noodles
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup grated Romano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 pound sea scallops, cut in half or quartered if very large
3/4 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 10-inch aluminum foil pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lasagna noodles until they are just done, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet and cook the onion over low heat until very soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more. Over medium-low heat, stir in the flour with a whisk, then gradually add the half-and-half, allowing the sauce to thicken slightly before adding more. When the sauce has thickened to about the consistency of whipping cream, add the cheese and stir well. Add the salt and pepper and stir again. Add the scallops and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or just until the shrimp turn pink. Turn off the heat.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the skillet into the prepared pan. Cover the bottom of the pan with 4 noodles, placing them side by side. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over the noodles, distributing half of the seafood evenly. Layer 4 more noodles, 1/3 of the sauce, and remaining seafood. Cover with the last 4 noodles and the remaining sauce. (For the top layer, do not spoon any seafood on top of the noodles; just use the sauce.) Tuck in any edges of the noodles so they're all coated with sauce. Top with the Parmesan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered, until bubbly. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

The Verdict:
YUM! That about sums it up for me! I absolutely loved this dish. It was nice because even with the half and half the sauce didn't feel so heavy and thick like alfredo can sometimes. I think I could have even gotten away with using whole milk (which is what I will do the next time I make this). The Doc really enjoyed it as well and was happy that I decided to add a veggie. I guarantee that if I didn't add the veggie it would have been the only complaint he had! So I thawed a box of frozen spinach, squeezed out the water and added it in the dish after I added the shrimp.

SIL and my Dad were able to try the leftovers and both really enjoyed it as well. My Dad had to get seconds!