I finally uncovered the secret to a sizzling brown baked dish – it’s Mozzarella cheese! I’ve always been using rice and cheddar cheese slices to make baked dishes at home, but have never achieved the bubbling effect of baked dishes that I see served in restaurants. Mozzarella cheese is a real wonder! What took me so long to realise that?
The name of this dish is so clumsy. But how else should I call it? Baked seafood macaroni without prawns and sotong? 😯
Ingredients:
- Macaroni: 100g
- Water: 2 cups (enough to cover macaroni)
- Campbell Clam Chowder: 150g (half a tin)
- Salmon: 1 fillet, deboned, rubbed with salt
- Pesto sauce: 1 tbsp
- Basil: leaves from 1 stalk, chopped finely
- Green peppercorn: 1 tsp, grinded
- Nutmeg powder: 1/2 tsp
- Salt: to taste
- Ground blackpepper: to taste
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: 100g (about 5 tbsp)
- Chesdale cheddar cheese: 1 slice
Method:
- Preheat oven at 190 degrees.
- Cook macaroni in boiling water. Add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Strain water from macaroni. Set aside 1/2 cup of strained water for next step.
- Add clam chowder to water and stir mixture into water till even.
- Pour mixture back into macaroni, and mix. Set aside.
- Mash salmon with finger tips and place along the sides of a plate to ensure even cooking.
- Cook salmon under high heat in microwave 1 min. Add cooked salmon into macaroni.
- Add pesto sauce, basil leaves, green peppercorn, nutmeg powder, salt and blackpepper.
- Add 3 tbsp mozzarella cheese into the mixture and stir everything together thoroughly.
- Scoop mixture into a baking dish. Use back of spoon to level the mixture.
- Place cheddar cheese slice on top of mixture. Top it off with remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake dish for 20min.
- Serve hot.
Tricks:
- Wear disposable gloves while deboning the salmon. The first time I deboned a salmon, I had to spend the rest of the day bearing with the pungent smell and regretting that I ever did it.
- Replace salmon with any of your beloved seafood, though this should be soft in texture to absorb the taste of the chowder and cheeses (e.g. crab meat and tuna).
Serving:
1 person
