Sand Crab Lasagne

Ingredients

Lasagne:

750g cooked crab meat (from approx 6 whole sand crabs) - reserve shells for sauce
60ml Napoli sauce (or your own tomato sauce)
40g grated Grana Padano cheese
600mL milk
60g butter
60g flour
25g tomato paste
Salt & pepper
Cayenne pepper
600g lasagne sheets

Crustacean sauce:

50g crab shells
50g celery
100g onions
1 garlic clove
1 fresh tomato
25g tomato paste
1/2 branch thyme
75mL white wine
200mL cream
Olive oil

Method

Bechamel sauce:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and stir in the flour until smooth. Cook, stirring for one minute, then remove from heat. Gradually add the milk to the flour, stirring continuously until you have a smooth sauce. Place back on the heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.

Bring 3 litres of water to boil, add salt and cook lasagne sheets until al dente, then cool. Preheat oven to 140 C.

Lasagne:

Mix 3/4 of the béchamel sauce with crab meat and season with salt, pepper and pinch of cayenne.

Pour 60mL of Napoli sauce in base of oven dish. Top with 1 layer lasagne sheets. Lay half crab meat/béchamel mixture on the lasagne sheet, followed by a layer of lasagne sheets. Add another layer of crabmeat/béchamel, then another layer of lasagne sheets.

In a blender, mix the remaining 1/4 of béchamel sauce with tomato paste until smooth and spread on top of the lasagne. Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Crustacean sauce:

Meanwhile, make the sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a large stockpot and adding crab shells, chopped carrot, celery and onion. Cook slowly until vegetables are lightly golden.

Add garlic, fresh tomato and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add white wine, cook for another 5 minutes, then add water to cover the shells. Bring to the boil over high heat then reduce to simmer for 45 minutes.

Strain and discard the solid then return the liquid to the boil and cook until reduced to 1 ;itre. Add cream, season to taste, bring to boil and blend until smooth before use.

Plate up lasagne and ladle sauce over the top.