Fish shells and shrimp au gratin

We are going to prepare some fish shells, a simple but successful starter, delicious and ideal for family or more festive meals.

You can fill these shells with the fish or seafood that you like the most, they go very well with salmon, monkfish, scallop or, in this case, with hake and shrimp.

It is a dish to enjoy for its flavor. In all the preparations that there are bechamel, they are sure to be successful because the texture is very soft, ideal for all members of the family.

You can make them more festive by playing with the ingredients by adding more seafood than fish, enhancing the flavor even more.

You can find the shell mold in some fishmongers or you can also find ceramic ones in kitchen utensil stores.

For 6 people

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the bechamel:

300 ml of milk

25 g of flour

25 g of butter

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

Gratin cheese

For the filling:

½ leek

3 shallots or half an onion

1 garlic

1 tablespoon fried tomato

4-5 pieces of hake, cleaned of skin and bones

300 g of peeled shrimp

Virgin olive oil

Preparation:

Wash and chop the shrimp.

To prepare the bechamel, heat the butter in a 24 cm frying pan . When it melts, add the flour and toast for a minute until it forms a paste or roux.

Add the milk and mix with a whisk, stirring constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes.

Season, sprinkle with nutmeg and set aside.

Clean the leek, only the white part, and chop finely.

Peel and chop the shallots or onion along with the garlic.

In a 28 cm frying pan, add a little olive oil, sauté the leek along with the shallots and garlic. When they are transparent, add the fish cut into small cubes and the prawns, also chopped.

Let everything cook for 5 minutes.

Add the fried tomato to the fish, stir well and let everything cook for two minutes.

Add the reserved bechamel to the mixture little by little until you obtain the desired texture.

Let the dough rest for two minutes and fill the shells.

Sprinkle with grated cheese and grill until the cheese is golden.

Photographs and recipe by Sivia .