Seafood Mornay Bread Bowl

Serves 4

Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter

1 brown onion, finely diced

2 celery sticks, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Good pinch of salt and pepper

500g marinara seafood mix, thawed

For the Mornay Sauce

50g butter

¼ cup plain flour

2 cups milk

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

¼ cup chopped dill + extra for garnish

Zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt and pepper

1 large cob loaf

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C.

In a large frying pan, heat butter over medium heat. When butter has melted, add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the seafood and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until seafood is just cooked. Remove to a separate bowl.

For the mornay sauce, in the same frying pan, melt the butter. When butter is foaming, add the flour and stir for a minute or two to cook out the flour. Turn off the heat and add milk a little at a time, mixing between each addition to prevent lumps from forming. Repeat until all milk has been used. Place back on low heat and stir until a thick, smooth sauce is achieved.

Turn off the heat and stir in Dijon, dill, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Add the seafood veg mix to the sauce and mix to combine.

Place cob loaf onto a lined baking tray. Cut a lid out of the loaf and hollow out the bread, leaving the walls intact. Tear up the lid and the bread from the inside and place around the outside of the cob. These will become crispy bread to serve.

Place the seafood mornay into the cob and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the bread is crispy.

Serve with extra dill to garnish. Place in the middle of the dinner table for everyone to tuck in!