Crab Lasagna - Delish!

Step One: Find some wily rock crabs on the beach.  Take a big bucket and a rake. Wear your beach shoes, prepare to get muddy and wet.  (that's half the fun!)  The crabs hide down in the mud underneath the big rocks and seaweed. It takes a little skill  with the rake (or the rake handle) to find them. My dad is an expert crab "hunter"!  Alex and Tom didn't do too bad, I even found 2 all on my own....

Step Two: Cook them in the pot.  Water should be boiling, and crabs need to cook for 15 minutes.  Best tasting (we think) if you cook them in salt water.  Ours were still hanging on to the seaweed from the beach!

Step Three: Cool the crabs in clean fresh water, then lay them out to drip dry.  I love the barnacle hat that this one is wearing!

Step Four: Crack and clean the crabs. A lot of messy work, but so worth it for fresh crab.  We have to watch my mom, she puts more in her mouth than in the bowl.  Because these rock crabs came off of my parents beach, the price was exactly right too! FREE

Step Five: Make the Lasagna!

Ingredients:
Lasagna Noodles - cook and drain
Fresh Crab Meat (bay shrimp would be good too!)
Mix together:
1 can cream of shrimp or mushroom soup
1 package of cream cheese
1 pt. small or curd cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 egg
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper (or lemon pepper)

3-4 sliced tomatoes
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Simply layer noodles, cheese mixture, crab in a 9" x 13" pan. Repeat layering until the pan is full. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then take out and layer tomotoes on top, with cheddar cheese on top of the tomatoes.  Bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve with some crunchy french bread and a ceasar salad and voila' - Gourmet Dinner!