Salmon Noodle Casserole

Submitted by kitchengrrl

"In the October '03 issue of Savuer, there was an article on canned tuna and lots of recipes, both traditional American and Italian, to use it in. One recipe was for a scratch version of the usual tuna noodle casserole with mushroom soup. The thought of tuna hot dish really puts me off, but for some reason, this recipe intrigued me and I wanted to try it with salmon. I made some significant improvements on their recipe and here is the delicious result. The only problem I had was getting the sauce to thicken, but I think that was because I was using 1% milk instead of whole. I'm sure this would be a tasty vegetarian dish without the fish."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 2 large portabella mushroom caps
• 8 ounces wide egg noodles
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 2 (6 ounce) cans boneless skinless salmon, drained
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup grated strong cheese (I used a combination of gruyere and fontina)
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot paprika (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1⁄2 cup breadcrumbs, approx (I crushed two slices of toast in the blender)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil for the noodles.
3. Make a marinade for the mushrooms from a little olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano and balsamic vinegar.
4. Coat mushrooms well and place in a foil-lined pan, stem side up.
5. Pour any remaining marinade onto mushrooms.
6. Bake in oven until soft, approx.
7. 15 minutes.
8. Add noodles to boiling water and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender.
9. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.
10. Remove mushrooms from oven and cut into large dice.
11. Add to noodles along with peas, peppers and salmon.
12. In a medium saucepan, melt the 5 T butter.
13. Add the crushed garlic and saute for 30 seconds until fragrent.
14. Then add flour and whisk constantly for 5 minutes until lightly browned.
15. Add milk and stir constantly until thickened, approx.
16. 2 minutes.
17. Remove sauce from heat and add cheese and seasonings.
18. Pour sauce over noodle mixture and toss to distribute evenly.
19. Pour mixture into buttered casserole.
20. Combine melted butter and breadcrumbs.
21. Top casserole with breadcrumbs.
22. Bake casserole in oven for 10-15 minutes until browned.