Monday, February 1, 2010

Easy Tilapia Casserole

Posted by CB / 2 comments » / pasta, seafood

My husband tells me all the time that when he was a little kid, he wasn’t a big fan of his mother making casseroles for dinner. I think it was all the corn and peas that she tried to sneak in so her boys could get some much needed vegetables. But as an adult he’s become a fan. Even though he’s still not a fan of peas and corn mixed with other stuff. Maybe that’s why he’s not a big meatloaf-er.

Lately I’ve been all about the casseroles.

I think it’s an Asian thing. Or maybe it’s just my family. I remember many of my mom’s dishes being a combination of different ingredients all thrown together (ex fried rice, eggrolls, pho, Viet meatloaf etc) Even when I eat food that has it’s own separate spot on the plate – veggies on the left, starch on the right and protein in the center – I find myself using a fork to push everything around the plate so that some of the veggies are smushed up with some starch so that I get a bite of everything at the same time. Anyone else do that or is it just a me thing? Oh come on! I can’t be the only one.

Speaking of throwing things together… I found The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever at Costco a couple weeks ago (I’m always browsing through their cookbook section!) and I’ve been making various casseroles from it. They are good but I haven’t found one that gives me the ‘WOWIE I AM SO MAKING THIS ONE AGAIN’ sentiment yet.

Maybe 3x the charm?

TIP: Costco sells individually wrapped frozen tilapia fillets in their freezer section. You can buy prepackaged gnocchi at Trader Joes or in the ethnic aisle of your grocery store or you can make your own.

Tilapia and Gnocchi Casserole

Recipe adapted from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter, melted
1 lb frozen tilapia fillets, thawed (I used 4 fillets)
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 lb potato gnocchi
2 dashes Tabasco sauce (I used a "tad" of Sriracha instead)
1-1/3 cups heavy cream or 1-10-3/4oz cream of shrimp soup (I used heavy cream)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Panko or fine dry breadcrumbs (I used Panko)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or PAM a shallow 2 quart casserole dish.

Rinse the tilapia and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate bowl, combine the tabasco and cream (or soup). Set aside. Distribute the gnocchi in an even layer in the casserole dish. Drizzle half the cream mixture over the gnocchi layer. Top the gnocchi with tilapia fillets. Add the remaining cream mixture on top. In a small bowl, mix the Parmesan cheese, panko and 2 tbsp melted butter. Sprinkle over the fish so everything is evenly coated.

Bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes until fish is flaky.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He loves fish and gnocchi separately but wasn’t sure what to think of putting it together. But it got over his apprehension after one bite. Even though he’s a wuss when it comes to spicy, he could taste a little bit of sriracha but still enjoyed the flavor it added to the dish. I always know it’s a winner when he ends the meal with … “Add this one to the rotation, honey.”

Wifery rating: A
I know the instructions say to use a 2 quart casserole dish but apparently I was/am ignorant b/c when I think of casserole I think of my 9×13 Pyrex dish. But according to (this), a 2 quart casserole conversion would be more like an 8×8 instead. It didn’t seem to make a difference in baking time though. After 30 minutes the tilapia was flaky and the gnocchi and sauce were so yummy with just a little bit of heat from the sriracha. Brownie points for being easy too. I got the WOWIE feeling with this one. Definitely will make again.

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