ayallawt Fish, Pasta, Reinventing leftovers

Quick Salmon Lasagna

Our family has hit many important milestones this month. I have reached eight months of my third pregnancy, celebrated my seventh wedding anniversary and got fired by email, all in the same week! the following three weeks included goodies such as finding myself a replacement (an insignificant detail that my highly intelligent (ahem) coordinator at work forgot to think about), packing our lives once again, driving 1200 kilometers (!) to my husband’s new (re)location and realizing that the details you forget to pack in a hurry are always unimportant trinkets such as toilet paper, telephones and garbage bins.
The long ride from our old place to the new one was abundant with hills and rivers, wild animals and misty, romantic curves. Or so says my husband. All I remember from these long hours is gripping the wheel for dear life, concentrating on the rear lights of the truck in front. I’m pretty sure I ate some cookies at a certain point, and I vaguely remember stopping for the night at a motel somewhere. If a policeman was ever to stop me on that road, I would have been arrested for sleep driving. Does that even exist?
Our new home was waiting for us nice and empty, and since the husband had to return to work immediately, my saint of a mother-in-law and what was left of yours-truly got up to the breezy task of unpacking a household while sustaining and entertaining two very unaffected toddlers.
This was not the time for complicated recipes. At the fourth evening an old couple of friends stopped by for supper, bringing the main course along with some new stories. The next day I was facing a mountain of leftover delicious salmon and a strong craving for comfort food and thus this salmon lasagna was born. It is beyond easy and true to my current state of auto piloting, requires only basic assembly. Since I will repeat this recipe in the very near future, I intend to try it as well with canned fish (tuna or salmon). I baked  my lasagna in a 9″ by 9″ pan and had to break the edges of the lasagna sheets to make them fit. Doubling this recipe will allow you to bake it in a bigger pan or to create more layers for a taller, more sophisticated look. I am also curious about trying it in a loaf pan, which will make it really nice and tall.
Quick Salmon Lasagna
IMG_0852

Ingredients:

2 cups diced/shredded leftover salmon/trout or even canned salmon or tuna fish
1 cup cottage cheese (fat percentage is up to you)
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp dry dill weed
black pepper to taste
about 8 lasagna sheets
1 cup grated cheese ( I used a mix of cheddar/mozzarella with Parmesan)
Preparation:
1. In a square (9 inch by 9 inch) pan (or another size that suits your needs), pour about 1/2 cm warm water, just enough to barely cover the lasagna sheets.
2. break edges of about four lasagna sheets to make them fit your pan (if needed) and arrange at the bottom.
3. Smooth about 1/2 of the filling mix evenly over the lasagna sheets.
4. arrange another layer of sheets, breaking edges to fit if needed.
5. Smooth second half of filling mix evenly over the lasagna sheets. sprinkle grated cheese evenly on top.
6. cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in a 350F oven (about 180C) for 40-45 minutes, until a fork inserted into the lasagna tells you the pasta sheets are tender.
7. if you wish, place under the broiler for a few short minutes to achieve a nice golden crust.