Weekly Recipe: Baked Seafood Pasta

I am such a sucker for any recipe involving shrimp and crab, specifically fake crab.  Seriously, I don't know what that stuff is (and I probably don't want to know) but I love it.  It's one of the few proteins that I could eat almost every day.  So when I came across this recipe for Baked Seafood Pasta, I knew I had to give it a try.  Although I loved the simplicity of the ingredients that allowed the flavors to shine, it would be easy enough to add some peas or frozen spinach for a little touch of green.  You could also just pair it with some fresh asparagus, steamed broccoli, or a salad.  

Baked Seafood Pasta

by The Greedy Gourmet

Ingredients

• 8 oz egg noodles
• 5 T. butter
• 2 T. flour
• 2 cups milk
• ½ tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• salt and pepper
• 4 oz small mushrooms, quartered
• 8 oz cooked peeled shrimp
• 8 oz imitation crab meat

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Generously butter a 2 quart baking dish.
3. Cook the noodles in a large pan of boiling salted water until just tender to the bite (check package instructions for timing). Drain well.
4. While the pasta is cooking, make a white sauce. Melt 3T. of the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and cook 2 minutes, stirring. Stir in the milk. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the mustard, lemon juice and tomato purée to the sauce and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
6. Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.
7. In a mixing bowl, combine the pasta, sauce, mushrooms, shrimp and crab. Stir well to mix.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake until piping hot and the top is lightly browned, 30-40 minutes.