CRAB MEAT AND LOBSTER LASAGNA

Justin wanted the traditional lasagna "like Mama used to make" for his birthday celebration with his twin sister Joni. Boring!! So Eric and I decided to make two kinds of lasagna (gotta have my way ya know!) He found this recipe on the internet, and we tweaked it a little. It's a little pricey to make such a small dish, but it was really good for a change.

6 TB butter
5 TB flour
4 c. milk
Salt and white pepper, to taste
1 pinch nutmeg
½ lb. fresh spinach, cleaned, stemmed and sliced finely
8 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
2 c. Ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 t. garlic, chopped
8 oz. Mozarella cheese, grated, + ½-1 c. for top of casserole
¾ - 1 lb. lump crab meat, picked over for cartilage
1-1/2 lb. Lobster tails, cooked, meat removed and diced
½ lb. lasagna noodles, boiled and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, ½ cup at a time. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook, stirring constantly for 4-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach and ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the Ricotta cheese, egg, garlic and Mozarella. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set side.

Grease an 8X8X2 inch square pyrex dish. To assemble, spread 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Season the crabmeat and lobster with salt and pepper and sprinkle ½ of it over the sauce. Sprinkle half of the remaining Parmesan over it. Cover the cheese with the pasta. Spread ½ of the cheese filling evenly over the pasta. Repeat the layers ending with a top layer of the sauce and cover with Mozarella cheese.* Bake until bubbly and golden, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

*For some reason the layering seemed difficult so here is the order: sauce, seafood, Parmesan, noodles, cheese filling, sauce, seafood, Parmesan, noodles, cheese filling, sauce, and Mozarella.