Cheesy Noodle Ring with Creamy Shrimp and Scallops - the perfect comfort food meal for cozy dinners.
This cheesy noodle ring is a delicious pasta side dish you can serve with any of your favorite main courses. Make it topped with creamy shrimp and scallops for an amazing comforting dinner for your family.
What is a Noodle Ring?
A noodle ring, in its most basic form, is any type of pasta mixed with eggs, milk, and other ingredients and seasonings and baked in a ring mold, bundt cake pan, or tube cake pan.
Often the center of the noodle ring is filled with a sauce, a vegetable, or some kind of creamy meat or fish dish that you would normally serve over noodles, rice, or potatoes.
Make your own favorite pasta and fill it with sauce! For example, you can make a spaghetti noodle ring and fill the center with a bolognese sauce for serving. It's a really fun and tasty twist to serving pasta.
The closest I've come to making something similar is a pasta carbonara torte. It just doesn't have a hole in the middle!
When you're ready to serve it, just place slices on a plate and top them with the creamy shrimp and scallops.
Noodle rings were evidently popular in certain regions of the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s. I had never heard of noodle rings, but once I found out that today is National Noodle Ring Day, I definitely had to explore more.
For the perfect comfort food meal, I love noodles smothered in creamy sauces (such as beef Stroganoff), or cheesy pasta-based casseroles, and this noodle ring with creamed shrimp and scallops fits the bill.
Between the cheesy pasta and the creamy seafood, either component of this dish would stand on its own. Paired together, this meal is over-the-top amazing.
The traditional way to serve the seafood with the noodle ring is to just ladle it into the center of the ring. I had a bowl that fit perfectly in the middle so that, if we had leftovers, we could save the two components separately.
Ingredient Notes:
For the creamed shrimp and scallops, I used a blend of shrimp and bay scallops, but any blend will work. You could also add some chunks of white fish too if you like.
To add flavor, I added 2 1/2 teaspoons of Custom Culinary Shrimp Base to the sauce. Penzey's also has a seafood base, as does Better Than Bouillon (they have a lobster base). You could instead add a chicken or vegetable base to the mixture instead, or you can skip this ingredient. Just add a little more salt if you do skip the bouillon.
Other ingredients include a shallot, dried tarragon, salt and pepper, flour, mik, and frozen peas.
For the noodle ring, I used standard egg noodles, along with Colby Jack cheese, whole milk, eggs, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup. Yes, ketchup! A little tomato umami!
You can pull this dinner together in about an hour.
To Make this Noodle Ring Dish:
Noodle Ring:
To make the noodle ring, first boil and drain the noodles.
While the noodles are simmering, combine egg yolks, a half cup of scalded milk, the grated cheese, some salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup, and then stir in the noodles.
Next, beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks, and fold them into the noodle mixture.
Pour everything into a buttered 8 inch by 3 inch ring mold and then place the mold into another pan that contains warm water. I used a 9 inch cake pan for the water bath.
Bake the noodle ring for about 50 minutes.
While the noodle ring is baking, make the creamy shrimp and scallops.
Shrimp and Scallops in Sauce:
First, sauté the shallot in butter and then add the tarragon, some salt and pepper, and the shrimp base.
Next, add the flour and stir everything together until the mixture thickens and the flour is no longer raw. Add the milk and bring everything to a simmer and cook until thickened.
Finally, add the seafood and peas and simmer until the shrimp and scallops are cooked through. This should take just a few minutes, depending on the size of the seafood.
To assemble the dish, turn the noodle ring out onto a plate and place the seafood mixture in the center, either on its own or in a bowl.
Serve this dish with a salad for a fabulous meal!
If you don't have the 8 inch ring mold (the kind everyone used to use for Jello salads) you can use a bundt cake pan, or you can rig a cake pan with ramekin in the center.
Sunday Funday
More Recipes to Celebrate Noodle Ring Day
- Cheesy Noodle Ring with Creamy Shrimp and Scallops by Karen’s Kitchen Stories (you're here)
- Quinoa Fusilli Pasta Ring by Sneha’s Recipe
- Spaghetti & Meatballs Noodle Ring by Amy’s Cooking Adventures
Cheesy Noodle Ring with Creamy Shrimp and Scallops
Ingredients
- 3 ounces (2 cups) uncooked egg noodles
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup scalded and cooled whole milk (microwave for 45 seconds in a 1-cup glass measuring cup)
- 4 ounces (1 cup) grated Colby Jack or cheddar cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 2 1/2 teaspoons shrimp base or other bouillon (see notes in post)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (more if you skip the bouillon)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups raw large shrimp
- 3/4 cup raw bay scallops
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Butter an 8-inch ring mold and heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Cook the egg noodles according to package directions in salted water. Drain into a collander.
- While the noodles are cooking, beat the egg yolks until light. Whisk in the milk and stir in the cheese, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup.
- Stir in the cooked noodles.
- Beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks but the whites are not dry. Fold the whites into the noodle mixture and pour everything into the ring mold.
- Set the ring mold into a pan of warm water and bake for 50 minutes, until a thin knife comes out clean.
- Turn the noodle ring out onto a plate.
- In a 10 to 12 inch skillet, melt the butter and add the shallots, tarragon, shrimp/soup base, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring, over medium low heat, until the shallots are softened.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened and the flour is no longer raw, about a minute or two.
- Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture has thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Add the shrimp, scallops, and peas, and simmer until the shrimp and scallops are fully cooked, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the seafood.
- Serve over the noodle ring.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
399.98Fat (grams)
20.45Sat. Fat (grams)
11.15Carbs (grams)
25.68Fiber (grams)
1.8Net carbs
23.88Sugar (grams)
8.35Protein (grams)
28Sodium (milligrams)
979.8Cholesterol (grams)
227.67
Great noodle ring! Thanks for participating!
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful noodle ring!
ReplyDelete