With minimal prep time, this is an easy and filling dinner recipe for those evenings when you want to spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying your supper!
Ingredients
- 400g Glenryck Pilchards in Tomato Sauce
- 1 bunch spinach, washed, trimmed and chopped
- Oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- ½ tub chunky cottage cheese
- Salt and ground black pepper
- ½ cup soft breadcrumbs
- Cheese Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon mustard powder
- Tomato sauce from the can of pilchards
- ½ tub chunky cottage cheese
Methods
Heat the oven to 200ºC. Drain the pilchards over a bowl and separate into fillets. Keep the sauce.
Cook the spinach in a little water in a medium saucepan until limp. Drain well, and then squeeze out the excess moisture with your hands.
Heat a little oil in a medium frying pan and fry the onion until golden. Remove from the heat and mix in the cottage cheese and spinach, and season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly into a casserole. Arrange the pilchard fillets on top.
Cheese Sauce
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, milk, mustard and sauce from the can of pilchards. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes until the sauce is smooth and thick. Remove from the heat and mix in the cottage cheese.
Pour the cheese sauce onto the pilchards and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve hot.
* Spinach is rich in vitamin A and potassium. Also present are the B group vitamins as well as vitamins C and E, and some protein, zinc and folic acid or folate. High doses of folate are believed to reduce lung cell damage caused by smoking.
# Glenryck pilchards are an outstanding source of protein at a very reasonable cost, and protein from fish is more easily digested than protein from meat.