OMG $10.00/lb is a bargain!

Anyway, you might consider using a MILD Swiss (taste it to be sure it isn't strong) as part of your substitution. In my experience domestic Swiss, tends to be milder, as does Alpine Lace, but check with your cheese pruveyor at the deli counter of your favorite store.

I would love to see the whole recipe if you can share it :-) It sounds wonderful!

Alexa

alpine lace is a lower fat cheese and won't melt well...I second Alexa's suggestion of a mild Swiss....but not necessarily a domestic one...
Why not a Jarlesberg? I just bought a big wedge from Sam's for about $6 a pound....and another consideration would be a good white chedder...Cabot is good.
I don't think you want an orange cheese nor anything as "strong" as parmesan....heck...with half a pound of good Gruyere for flavor you could even use mozzerella...just don't buy the pregrated stuff in a bag.
Sounds yummy....how about posting the recipe?
Linda C

Sorry, I mistyped regarding the price of the gruyere. My mistake, the result of typing on an empty stomach while enjoying a glass of wine. The gruyere is almost $10.00 for 8 oz.
Here is the recipe. The recipe is only for 4 servings, so I'm doubling it:

Seafood Lasagna
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup each shallots, carrots and celery, minced
8 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp, cut into small dice
8 ounces lump crabmeat, picked over
2 tablespoons Cognac
1 cup canned tomatoes drained, chopped
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups light cream
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and pepper
Pinch nutmeg
1 pound fresh spinach or tomato lasagne sheets (or half pound each)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter. When hot add shallots, carrots and celery, cover and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and crab and saute, stirring continuously for 3 to 4 minutes or until seafood is just cooked through. Stir in Cognac and evaporate over high heat. Stir in tomatoes and cook 10 minutes, uncovered, or until mixture is quite thick. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make a roux: Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and add 4 tablespoons flour. Whisk in cream and milk and simmer five minutes or until thick. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the gruyere cheese; season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg Cut the pasta sheets into strips 3 to 4 inches wide and long enough to fit into your gratin or baking dish. Boil, a few sheets at a time until 3/4 done. Drain and cool on clean cloths. Generously butter 3 quart capacity baking pan. Spread a thin film of cream sauce over bottom of baking dish. Arrange a layer of 4 overlapping sheets of lasagne. Spread a thin film of cream sauce over pasta, then seafood mixture. Top with pasta and repeat, reserving 1/3 cup of cream sauce for top layer. Finish with a layer of pasta, cream sauce and remaining 1/4 cup of gruyere. Bake, loosely covered with foil for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes or until hot throughout and only slightly golden on top. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes then serve.

Swiss is a good choice for use with seafood, but so are Jarlesberg and Madrigal. I bought French Madrigal at Trader Joe's for $5.50 a pound yesterday, which was lower than the Jarlsberg. Another good choice is Manchego, but it will probably cost more than the Gruyere.

Lars

8 oz. cheese grates up to about 2 cups.

Iris gal is right, if you have an 8 oz chunk of Gruyere, that will be more than enough for your recipe (doubled) once you grate it. And the recipe sounds FAB! Thanks for sharing

Alexa

I guess I got a good deal. Yesterday I paid $7.49 for a half pound of Boar's Head Gruyere at a local market. I want to do a sort of 7 fishes for Christmas Eve. Planning on fried calimari followed by clams and mussels in white wine/shallot/garlic sauce for appetizers and later for dinner a variation on Coquille St Jacques Crepes using shrimp, scallops, langostinos and lump crab. That's my seven, but since there is just the two of us I'm going to have to spread the meal out over a couple of hours.

This is probably a highjack, but I thought I had seen on some of the cooking shows that fish and cheese are no-no's together. Is that not so?

I have successfully subbed cheap Swiss cheese for gruyere when I've made Ina Garten's zucchini gratin before, and thought it was still very good. Of course, when I did that, I had never had gruyere, and had never had that gratin, so I didn't know any better. I've since made it with gruyere, and like that, also. I'd have to taste them side by side to know how much difference it makes in a recipe that calls for all that cream and butter.

Sally

Sally,
I've seen that cheese/fish theory tossed about, too in various ways. Supposedly, it is an Italian no-no to put grated cheese on a pasta dish that has seafood in it. I really believe that that must be a regional thing. Both my mother and father were from Sicily and I grew up eating grated cheese on any kind of pasta dish as well as grated parm/romano on chicken soup. Also, I love melted cheddar on a nice breaded fried fish sandwich. In the lasagne as well as the coquille that I'm making, the gruyere becomes a part of the sauce, along with the shallots, cognac and roux, so I think it just adds a complimentary flavor that blends in to the overall dish.

I think there are fewer cheeses that go with fish, and I pretty much never use Parmesan with seafood and especially not with shrimp. Crab is a little more compatible with cheese, and when I make salmon crepes, I generally put Swiss or Gruyere cheese on top. I've also had seafood omelets that had cheese in them, but that's not the way I make them. Personally, I usually do not use cheese with fish, but crepes are a notable exception, and I think lasagna would be another one. I never add cheese to linguini with clam sauce, however.

Lars

Maybe it's more of a personal preference rather than a regional thing. Lars, to you it might be a no-no, but I usually top my lingiune w/clam sauce with a sprinkle of parm/romano and I have had fish and shrimp "Romano" style in restaurants that were very good and they are loaded with grated cheese. I think we hit on the topic with the "Myths or Musts" thread I started a while back; it's interesting to note the differences of opinion. As a rule, I go by what my tastebuds tell me, as I think we all do. That's one of the things that I love about this forum; there is so much diversity that it drives me to try things that I normally wouldn't try, or even think of doing, when I cook.

No fish with cheese....hmmm....never thought of that premise before....but it "sort of works"....maybe...
A local restraunt serves a luncheon special of a fried cod sandwich, with onion, tomato and a slice of American cheese....doesn't make it!! I order it with the cheese on the side.
But a sea food quiche is a wonderful thing!
So...my answer is it depends on what fish and what cheese....and how it's prepared.
Linda C

I'm thinking Lobster Thermidor - cheese - yum!

I've heard that "rule" also, mostly on the FN. What about...

Lobster Mac 'n Cheese
Lox w/Cream Cheese
Shrimp & Scallop Enchilladas
Tuna Melts
Shrimp Alfredo
Anchovies on a Cheese Pizza
Coquille Saint Jacques
Crab Rangoon
Tuna Mornay

I think the "rule" is really a personal preference like my saying, "green peppers should NEVER appear in chile". That's just 'cause I don't like 'em! :)

/tricia

I don't care for cheese with seafood myself, then I don't care for seafood at all so....

I agree that you should use a mild Swiss or a Jarlesberg, never an Alpine Lace though. I think Jarlesberg would be preferable.

Rule? I've never heard any such "rule". On Food Network? I've missed it, thank goodness!