I have mentioned before that I am not the world’s biggest seafood person, but I do love prawns. I often make dishes that use prawns, with or without another seafood addition. I came across a recipe for garlic shrimp pasta bake and I amended it to my preferred specifications. It came out very well.
Ingredients
500 grams multicoloured spiral noodles (spinach, tomato, and plain)
120 grams butter
125 ml all-purpose flour
600 ml low fat milk
3 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
3 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
200 ml grated parmesan cheese
125 ml grated Romano cheese
125 ml grated mozzarella cheese
1 Tbspn flaked garlic
1 Tbspn dried parsley
4 chopped Roma tomatoes
500 grams shelled large prawns
Method
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add 5 ml of olive oil and 15 ml of salt. Add the spiral pasta and allow to cook for 15 minutes until soft. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
In a saucepan, add a little olive oil and cook the prawns and the garlic for 5 – 7 minutes until light pink all over.
Add the butter to the saucepan and melt. Mix in the flour and allow to cook for a few minutes. Add the lemon juice to the chicken stock and slowly add to the flour mixture, whisking continuously. Add the milk, parsley, dill, salt and pepper, and whisk until the mixture comes to the boil. It should have thickened nicely by that time. Do not stop whisking or the sauce will go lumpy. Add the Romano and parmesan cheese and half of the mozzarella and allow to melt completely. Add the chopped tomatoes and the prawns.
Prepare a large baking tray, layer with the pasta. Pour the sauce over the pasta, making sure the pasta is completely coated with sauce. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with a fresh green salad.
Here is my YT video of the sauce for this pasta bake:
Robbie's inspiration 