Date night-in never sounded so good before this seafood gratin came along. And with 4 better than restaurant quality serving ofthis cozy seafood casserole for under $30, how could you go wrong??
Dontcha hate it when you overspend on a meal out at a nice restaurant? Isn’t it worse when the meal flat out sucks? Ugh!!
Kyle and I had a meal like this on Saturday night and we were just so bummed about it.And strangely enough, it was at one of our favorite restaurants – perhaps it was just an off-night there?Nonetheless, we had a dinner planned for Sunday night that we were really looking forward to making.
It was a new recipe and was a little risky for us, even if it was an Ina recipe. Anything with fish tends to be a little iffy in this house (for Kyle anyway) but since we’re hacking South Beach for two weeks, obviously, our starch-loving diets need to be expanded slightly.
So seafood gratin it was!
What is Seafood Gratin?
Seafood gratin essentially is a seafood casserole recipe. For this recipe, 3 kinds of seafood are mixed with sauteed vegetables, seafood stock, and some wine. The seafood mixture then gets a crunchy, cheesy topping before it’s baked to perfection.
Ingredients for Seafood Gratin
The base of this seafood casserole recipe includes lobster, shrimp, cod, seafood stock, heavy cream, tomato paste, wine, butter, and flour. You’ll saute some leeks and carrots and mix them into the seafood mixture.
The topping is made up of panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic, tarragon, and parsley.
While this isn’t a gluten-free recipe as it’s written below, you could swap in gluten-free breadcrumbs and flour in place of the standard ingredients.
We picked up some fresh cod and shrimp at the grocery store but unfortunately, we could only find frozen cooked lobster and rather than cooking and picking a whole fresh lobster for just one recipe, we went for the frozen stuff. At least it came from Maine though!
And honestly, the frozen stuff was pretty good. In any event, the recipe went smoothly and it really was a great recipe for us to cook together for it probably would have been a fairly time-consuming recipe for just me. The whole recipe came together without issue and we finally got the chance to use our individual gratin dishes!
This looked and smelled SO good going into the oven that it was difficult waiting the 20 minutes it took to cook and I kept opening the oven door to get a whiff of it cooking…which probably added a couple minutes to the cooking time but oh well.
Well let me tell you. If you’re considering going out to a nice seafood restaurant for dinner, don’t. Stay home and make this seafood casserole.
It was seriously the best meal we’ve had in ages (whether it be at home or at a restaurant) and something that we will make over and over again. Neither one of us could get over how fantastic this was as we savored every single bite.
And to my good fortune, I took Monday off from work due to the snowstorm so I got the leftover dish of gratin. Score!
More Easy Seafood Recipes
- Mom’s Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi
- Lobster Mac and Cheese
- Foil-Baked Halibut
- Spaghetti with Clams
- New England Seafood Chowder
- Scallops Provençal
Seafood Gratin (Casserole)
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Seafood gratin is an amazing date night-in dinner! It's a seafood casserole that has lobster, shrimp, and cod in a creamy wine sauce. The crunchy topping is panko, herbs, garlic, and parmesan totally sends the recipe into another world! And with 4 better than restaurant quality servings for under $30, how could you go wrong??
Ingredients
- 1 cup seafood stock or clam juice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup plus 3 tbsp dry white wine, such as Chardonnay or Chablis, divided
- 3 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ tsp saffron threads (optional)
- 8 oz raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half crosswise
- 8 oz raw halibut or cod cut into 1-inch chunks
- 8 oz cooked lobster meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups julienned leeks, white and light green parts (2 large)
- 1 ½ cups julienned carrots (3 carrots)
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs) or ½ cup dried plain breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Place 4 individual gratin dishes on a sheet pan. Alternatively, you can bake this in a 13×9-inch baking dish to serve it family style.
- Combine the stock, cream,½ cup of the wine, the tomato puree, and saffron in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and add the shrimp. After 3 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp to a bowl. Add the halibut to the stock for 3 minutes, until just cooked through, and remove to the same bowl. Add the cooked lobster to the bowl.
- Continue to cook the sauce until reduced by half, about 12 minutes. Mash 1 tablespoon of the butter together with the flour. Whisk the butter mixture into the sauce along with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saute pan. Add the leeks and carrots and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of wine, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender. Set aside.
- Combine the panko, Parmesan, parsley, tarragon, and garlic. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and mix it into the crumbs until they're moistened.
- Divide the seafood among the 4 gratin dishes or oven-safe shallow bowls. Strew the vegetables on top of each dish. Pour the sauce equally over the seafood and vegetables and spoon the crumbs evenly on top. Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve hot.
Notes
adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten
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