Tuna Casserole w/ Cheesy Topping

Today, I learned that my daughter loves eating plain boiled pasta, my dog loves tuna, and that sometimes, laziness pays off!

What a weekend! I was so exhausted after a fun morning at church, that I took a Sunday afternoon nap - something highly unusual for me. I rarely sleep during the day! Now, that's not something worth blogging about though, right? Well, it is if you invited someone over to spend the evening with you, & then fell asleep with your toddler. They arrived and stood knocking at our door for a while before they realized we were probably out like lights. So, how did they wake us up? The old tiny pebbles against the window pane trick! Only this time, it was not-so-smallish rocks against the air-conditioning unit trick! It worked though, and after I apologized for making them wait, we had a good laugh about it!

After that great nap, I was raring to cook! I made one of my favorites - Tuna Noodle Casserole. Now, I know I say 'noodle', but we prefer using macaroni for this dish.

 The shortcut I talk about is the topping I used for this casserole. Usually, for a bread crumb topping like this, melted butter is added to the crumbs. But me, I was too lazy to even melt the butter. So, I added soft butter to the crumbs & cheese and ended up with something that resembled cookie dough! Anyways, I just tore it all up and put the pieces over the dish and baked it. It ended up tasting like chewy cheese biscuits and we loved it!

I usually add more vegetables to this casserole - I especially love to add button mushrooms or broccoli, but today all I had were green peas. Remember the Pea & White Bean Soup post? Yes, I still have peas leftover in my freezer! Not complaining though - I love peas.


Tuna Noodle Casserole
(Serves 2 1/2 people)

Ingredients
6 oz uncooked macaroni
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tsp plain flour

1 cup milk
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp prepared mustard
 3/4 cup green peas
1 dried bay leaf
1/3 cup cream
1 6 oz can of tuna

Cheesy Biscuit Topping
2 slices stale/crusty bread (I used only the end slices of the loaf)
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp pepper

Method
1. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water. Drain, refresh and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter. Swirl around till the butter is completely melted. Add the garlic, celery and onion. Cook until the onions are softened but not brown. Add the plain flour and stir for a few minutes.
3. Take the pan off  the heat and add the mustard, the milk and 1 /2 cups of the stock. Stir to make sure there are no lumps.
4. Put the pan back on the heat, add the peas and the bay leaf.
5. Cook until the sauce is thick and velvety, and the peas are cooked. 
6. Take off the heat, and stir in the cream. Flake the tuna into the sauce.
7. Remove the bay leaf and discard.
8. Stir in the macaroni and stir until the pasta is well coated with the sauce. If you feel it is too dry, add a little more stock.
9. Adjust the seasoning and transfer to a baking dish.
10. Add the cheesy topping & bake at 400 until the topping is bubbly and brown.

Cheesy Topping
1. Process all the ingredients except the butter in a food processor until the bread has turned to fine crumbs.
2. Continue processing and add the softened butter, keeping the machine running until it forms a soft dough.
3. Tear up the dough and strew over the top of the casserole

This casserole is something I never tire of eating. Over the years, I have tried several recipes and this one is a combination of the best of all those recipes. My husband - who usually eats fish only if it's fried, loved this dish and commented on how 'it didn't taste fishy at all'. My daughter loved it and even while I was trying to get a decent picture of the dish, she couldn't keep her chubby little fingers out of the plate - as you can see!

This is the perfect amount for a family of three, but this dish is pretty easy to double and triple. In fact, I think I should do that the next time I make this. We would really enjoy any left-overs of this dish!

Technorati Tags: Tuna, Casserole, Recipe, Topping, Cheese