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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe

I’m on a real comfort food kick but I have to tell you it’s not affecting my weight. In fact, I ate this last night and lost over 1#. Your body will tell you if you’re going outside of the boundaries of what you can process safely. Just weigh yourself every day and stay on top of it. Pasta doesn’t have to be a no-no.

With this recipe, I’ve included about 25% of the pasta that would be in most similar recipes. That’s a big secret. Just cut it back. You won’t miss it. This casserole focuses on the veggies, the protein and the sauce.

This can be made with bay scallops or shrimp too.

Servings: Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of dry pasta, cooked. I chose orzo for this recipe but you can choose your favorite. You don’t need much. Just enough to cover the bottom of a 9 ” X 9 ” casserole dish.
• 12 oz of cooked salmon* broken into bite-sized pieces or shredded chunks. You can do this with a fork.
• 2 cups of shredded cheese. I used a combo of mozzarella/provolone/parmesan. You can switch it up to meet your preferences. Cheddar, fontina, gruyere would all be good options too.

To make the sauce

• 4 Tbl of butter
• 1 cup of minced onion or shallot
• 6 – 8 oz of sliced mushrooms. I used shitake but button or cremini will work too.
• 1.5 cups of whipping cream
• 2 tsp of seasoning. (Pick one. You can choose Italian seasoning, Cajun, dill or even tarragon for a French flair. Whatever seasoning you use will dictate a different flavor to your casserole)
• grated sea salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup of frozen baby peas

Instructions:

In a pot of boiling water cook your chosen pasta according to package directions. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking you can make your sauce.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the onion and the mushrooms. Cook until they wilt. Stir often. Add your seasoning and the cream. Add your salt and pepper to taste. Turn up to a slow bubble. Stir often and watch the cream start to thicken. Don’t let it boil over. Turn it down if it gets bubbling too much.  This will only take about five minutes and your cream will start to thicken up. Add your peas and turn it off.

Now assemble your casserole.

Spray the bottom of your casserole dish. Add the pasta. Put your cooked salmon (or other choice) on top.

Sprinkle half of your cheese mixture on top of the salmon. Pour all of your sauce over the cheese. Then top with the rest of the cheese.

Pop this in your oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until you get a little bit of browning to the cheese. Let sit about 10 minutes before you serve so you don’t burn your mouth.

*To roast salmon quickly. Set oven to 400 degrees. Place salmon in an oven-proof pan and let it roast for approximately 20 minutes for salmon to be cooked through. Then just place it on a cutting board and shave off the protein with a fork. Toss the skin.  You could also use canned salmon for this dish. I’m just a fan of fresh.

Enjoy,

Cheers!