Recipe(tried): Seafood Pasta Mornay

Orange County, this is not a recipe you are probably looking for, but I thought I'd share a version of how I use crabmeat, pasta, and cheese. I don't have exact measurements, sorry, but this is pretty flexible.

Sea shell pasta
Frozen green peas
Butter, or your choice butter flavored spread
Onion, chopped fine
Flour
Milk, or Cream (I've also been known to use a combination of milk and cream cheese)
Swiss Cheese, shredded
Parmasan cheese, grated--divided
Crabmeat, Shrimp (peeled and deviened), or a combination of the two
Mushrooms, fresh sliced, or canned (optional)

I cook sea shell pasta according to directions. Toward the end of cooking time I add frozen peas to heat through for the last few minutes, drain in colander.

While pasta is cooking, I melt butter in a casserole dish that can sit on a stove burner, or you can use a frying pan to make the sauce, then transfer the mixture to a casserole dish later.

Saute onion, and fresh sliced mushrooms if using in the butter until soft, then mix in small amount of flour to brown lightly.

When flour is incorporated, stir in milk, gradually add shredded swiss, and parmasan to taste. I like it tasting more swiss than parmasan. Keep stirring until cheese is melted and the sauce is of the consistency of your liking and enough to coat the pasta, fold in the crabmeat and or shrimp and heat through. The shrimp will be heated through when they turn pink, if using raw shrimp.

Combine sauce with pasta/pea mixture in casserole. Sprinkle top with grated parmasan and serve.

This dish makes a pretty presentation as the peas often become lodged in the pasta shells.