I had already planned to have tilapia fillets for supper the other night. I usually bake them topped with Cajun seasoning. But I have this big bag of french fried onions that I bought at Sam's some time ago which I keep forgetting to use. Gee, I wonder if there's an expiration date on them? Anyway, I looked on the Web for a fish recipe that used these onions and I found "Crunchy Tuscan Style Tilapia." Actually the webpage says "cruncy," but I overlooked that. I also overlooked the layout and the fact that at Step 5 you are supposed to sprinkle "the mozzarella cheese" on the fish. What mozzarella cheese is that?
We really liked this. Since this was a last-minute discovery, I didn't have all the ingredients that "Cruncy" called for. No angel-hair pasta, so I used spaghetti. No jar of spaghetti sauce so I used pizza sauce that I mixed with a dry spaghetti sauce packet. No red pepper flakes. I will put that on my grocery list for the next time.
Here's the way I did it. It's a little different that the recipe at the link but not much. I especially liked the pizza/spaghetti sauce. That was a pleasant surprise.
1 cup french fried onions, more or less
4 tilapia fillets
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, plus additional for sprinkling if you don't have mozzarella
⅓ cup Italian dressing (I happened to have some version called Tuscan House Italian)
cooking oil
minced garlic
spaghetti
1 jar of pizza sauce
1 pkg. spaghetti sauce mix
1. Oven to 350◦. Line a cookie sheet with foil and oil the foil lightly.
2. Crush the onions and blend in ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Spread the mixture on a piece of wax paper in order to coat the fish.
3. Pour the dressing in a pie plate and dip each fillet in the dressing. Then coat the fish with the onions and place on the cookie sheet.
4. When the fish is coated, place a piece of foil loosely over the cookie sheet (don't seal the edges) and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Cook the pasta.
6. Heat 1 T of oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add the sauce, the dry mix and a little water and simmer for 15 minutes. This will bubble and splat so I kept the lid on, more or less.
7. When the fish has baked for 15 minutes, take the foil off the top and sprinkle Parmesan (or mozzarella) cheese over the fillets. Cook uncovered a few more minutes.
8. Mix the pasta and sauce and serve with the fish. Delish!
We really liked this. Since this was a last-minute discovery, I didn't have all the ingredients that "Cruncy" called for. No angel-hair pasta, so I used spaghetti. No jar of spaghetti sauce so I used pizza sauce that I mixed with a dry spaghetti sauce packet. No red pepper flakes. I will put that on my grocery list for the next time.
Here's the way I did it. It's a little different that the recipe at the link but not much. I especially liked the pizza/spaghetti sauce. That was a pleasant surprise.
1 cup french fried onions, more or less
4 tilapia fillets
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, plus additional for sprinkling if you don't have mozzarella
⅓ cup Italian dressing (I happened to have some version called Tuscan House Italian)
cooking oil
minced garlic
spaghetti
1 jar of pizza sauce
1 pkg. spaghetti sauce mix
1. Oven to 350◦. Line a cookie sheet with foil and oil the foil lightly.
2. Crush the onions and blend in ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Spread the mixture on a piece of wax paper in order to coat the fish.
3. Pour the dressing in a pie plate and dip each fillet in the dressing. Then coat the fish with the onions and place on the cookie sheet.
4. When the fish is coated, place a piece of foil loosely over the cookie sheet (don't seal the edges) and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Cook the pasta.
6. Heat 1 T of oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Add the sauce, the dry mix and a little water and simmer for 15 minutes. This will bubble and splat so I kept the lid on, more or less.
7. When the fish has baked for 15 minutes, take the foil off the top and sprinkle Parmesan (or mozzarella) cheese over the fillets. Cook uncovered a few more minutes.
8. Mix the pasta and sauce and serve with the fish. Delish!