Identify Ingredients of Concern

• When you prepare a seafood lasagna in advance of baking it, focus on food safety and the quality of the lasagna, in terms of taste and texture. Freezing unbaked lasagna may alter the texture of cheese slightly, but there is rarely any other significant change in the casserole’s quality. Issues regarding food safety, however, require greater consideration, particularly when a lasagna contains seafood. Eggs and dairy products, including cheese and cream, are also highly susceptible to contamination. Fortunately, all of the at-risk products have the same basic handling and heating needs, which makes it easier to follow and double-check the safety precautions as you prepare the dish.

Assemble with Cooked Seafood

• It is safer and more efficient to cook seafood before layering it in lasagna, as you would with a sauce that contains ground beef or sausage. Seafood lasagna traditionally features a cream-based seafood sauce as its primary filling. Fish, shellfish and the other foods that come into contact with the sauce must reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit to be safe to eat. To ensure safety, cook the sauce to 145 F before assembling the lasagna. The pieces of seafood should be opaque and white. You do not need to cook the soft cheese and egg filling before layering it with the creamy seafood filling, pasta and cheese. The egg cooks when you bake the lasagna.

Follow Safe Storage Guidelines

• It is safe to store cooked seafood and cracked eggs in the refrigerator up to four days. If you used liquid or frozen egg products, it’s safe to refrigerate the lasagna up to three days. Cover the lasagna with plastic wrap to keep air from seeping into the lasagna before you bake it. Air may dry out the ingredients or cause foods to exchange smells and flavors. If you freeze seafood lasagna, the texture of the cheese may decline marginally when you thaw it. But it’s safe to freeze cooked seafood, dairy products and uncooked eggs for up to three months, as long as the temperature of the freezer stays below 0 degrees F. Don’t freeze a lasagna that contains liquid or frozen egg products, because freezing can alter the texture or taste of the product dramatically.

Achieve a Safe Internal Temperature

• Do not leave an uncooked lasagna at room temperature for more than two hours, even to thaw it. Thaw a frozen lasagna in the refrigerator or transfer it directly from the freezer to the oven to bake. Cook the lasagna at 325 F. Generally, the baking time for a lasagna that is still frozen all the way through is 1 1/2 times the baking time needed for an unfrozen lasagna of the same size. The lasagna is done when it is cooked through and has an internal temperature of 165 F, which is the temperature eggs and egg products must reach to be safe to eat. If your lasagna does not contain eggs, it only needs an internal temperature of 145 F, the temperature necessary to ensure the safety of seafood.