Pasta and salmon bake with broccoli: delicious everyday cooking
Baked dishes are true comfort food for every day. In this pasta and salmon bake with broccoli, hearty pasta meets tender salmon and crisp broccoli. The secret lies in the simple cream cheese sauce and the golden-brown layer of melted mozzarella.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 300 g Rigatoni
- Salt
- 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 300 g broccoli florets
- 400 g Lachsfilet
- 200 g Mozzarella
- black pepper
- 1 tsp Italian herbs 🛒
- 200g cream cheese
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C (top/bottom heat) and grease a casserole dish with a little olive oil.
- Cook the rigatoni in a pot of salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about 100 ml of the pasta water.
- Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the garlic. Divide the broccoli into small florets. Cut the salmon into bite-sized pieces and slice the mozzarella.
- Heat the remaining olive oil in a pan and briefly fry the chopped garlic over medium heat until translucent.
- Add the salmon fillet pieces and fry them for about 3 minutes on all sides. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian herbs.
- Add the broccoli florets and sauté them for about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the cream cheese and mix everything with the collected pasta water to create a creamy sauce.
- Place the rigatoni in a casserole dish. Pour the sauce over it and mix it with the pasta. Distribute the mozzarella evenly over the casserole.
- Bake the pasta and salmon casserole in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden brown. Serve with a fresh salad or as a side dish.
Recipe for a pasta and salmon bake with broccoli
For this oven-baked dish, it's best to choose short pasta shapes like penne or fusilli. Their ridges perfectly absorb the sauce. Add salmon as a protein source, and fresh broccoli provides a contrasting color and flavor. The result is a balanced meal that's easy on the stomach.
The heart of this pasta and salmon bake with broccoli is the quick sauce. You don't need a complicated roux for it. Instead, simply use cream cheese, which you stir together with a little starchy pasta water until smooth. The hot pasta water binds the cream cheese into a velvety cream that coats the individual ingredients beautifully. Season the whole thing with garlic and appropriate spices. A bake naturally needs a proper cheese crust. Mozzarella is the ideal choice here. It melts well and adds a mild flavor that doesn't overpower the delicate taste of the salmon.
To prepare this dish, first pre-cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. This significantly reduces the baking time in the oven and ensures the pasta retains its perfect al dente texture. While the pasta is cooking, you can prepare the rest. Gently sauté the finely chopped garlic in a little oil. Then add the diced salmon and the spices. Let the fish sear briefly before adding the broccoli, cut into small florets, to the pan.
Now stir in the cream cheese and the reserved pasta water. Mix everything thoroughly until you have a smooth, homogeneous mixture. Then, transfer the drained pasta to a large baking dish and spread the salmon and broccoli sauce evenly over it. Finally, top with slices of mozzarella. Now the oven will do the rest.
