Baked Fish with Sauce and Pasta, Just Like in a Kindergarten

Recipe step 1: Take spiral-shaped macaroni made from durum wheat. This ensures that they will not turn into mush and will maintain their shape. Do not overcook them, the cooking time is usually indicated on the packaging, which is around 10 minutes after boiling. If you have leftover pasta from the previous day, it's even better as it will speed up the process. In this case, skip the step of cooking. Boil water in an electric kettle for faster preparation and pour boiling water into a pot. You will need about a liter of water. Bring the water to a boil, add salt, and cook on low heat until the pasta is done. Drain the water afterwards.

Recipe step 2: While the pasta is cooking, let's prepare the sauce and fish. Heat the milk in a small saucepan over low heat. Melt the butter and add the flour. Approximately 15 grams, which is about a tablespoon. Immediately and vigorously mix to prevent lumps. Gradually add hot milk while stirring. Start with about 50-70 grams and mix quickly until it becomes a thick, homogeneous mixture. Then add another 70 grams and mix again. Finally, add the remaining milk in two portions, about 100 grams each. Keep stirring. If you notice any lumps in the finished sauce, strain it through a sieve. Add a little salt. The sauce is ready.

Recipe step 3: Now let's prepare the fish. Specifically, we need fish fillets. You have the choice to buy fresh fish and fillet it yourself, or buy pre-cut and chilled fillets (available in the fish section on ice), or choose frozen fillets from a trusted brand. I have chosen frozen whiting fillets, which I left to defrost overnight on the kitchen counter in a bowl. Sprinkle a little salt on both sides of the fillets. Pour about 100 grams of water into a frying pan, bring it to a boil, and place the fillets in the pan. Cover tightly with a lid, reduce the heat to a minimum, and simmer for 10 minutes. After this time, the fish will be fully cooked.

Recipe step 4: Cook the sliced carrots in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and set aside.

Recipe step 5: Finally, let's assemble the dish. Place the cooked macaroni on a serving plate. Place the fish fillets on top of the macaroni and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with cooked carrots. Serve hot and enjoy!

So, the sauce and fish are ready, the pasta is cooked, now we just need to combine these components. Take a baking dish - I have a ceramic one, measuring 19/28 centimeters, which, in my opinion, is perfect. Grease it with oil, about one-third of the stated 20 grams should be enough. Spread out and evenly distribute our pasta.

Choose the fish from the pan and cut it into random, not too small, pieces. Place the fish pieces on top of the pasta, pressing them slightly so that they are roughly at the same level.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (or 250 degrees according to the recipe). Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Pour the milk sauce evenly over the entire top of the future casserole. The remaining butter used to grease the dish can be melted or simply cut into small pieces and placed on top of our casserole. If you decide to melt it, just pour it over the surface. The recipe suggests spraying the surface with melted butter, which indicates that chefs do melt it, but I believe it's not crucial. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on top.

Place our casserole dish in the oven. Technically, all the ingredients are ready, so we just need to heat it, melt the cheese, and, if desired, wait for a golden crust to form. To achieve this, I think the grill function is necessary, as a crust may only start to appear in the oven after 15 minutes or even longer. In the end, the dish will just dry out and lose flavor, so I only kept it in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. In that time, the casserole heated up and the cheese melted. Some small children, upon seeing the fish, may refuse to eat it, even though they eat it perfectly fine in other dishes where it's hidden. In this case, I would recommend simply crushing it with a fork and mixing it with the pasta, so that it's not visible at all. The light color of the fish, together with the pasta and milk sauce, gives the impression that it's just pasta with sauce. Overall, every mother invents clever ways to feed her child what she considers healthy, even if the child doesn't want it :) Well, that's it. I hope your kids will enjoy and like this casserole. You can add additional seasoning and more cheese on top for yourself and show the child an example of how it should be eaten - even if you don't like it very much, pretend it's the most delicious dish in the world :) Enjoy your meal!