We got snow in Virginia this weekend and to me, snow always means Tuna Casserole. My mom used to make her famous Tuna Casserole every snow day when my brother and I were little. Now, my mom can cook and her casserole is an oldie but goodie and once in a while, still a nostalgic treat. But... (no offense, mom)... I wanted to make grown-up casserole. I didn't want to use condensed soup, or tri-colored rotini noodles, or SPINACH (my brother will only eat his casserole with spinach which makes the whole dish so one-note. I need the broccoli crunch!
And, nothing against condensed soup, but being pregnant and all, I try to avoid the extra sodium and processing wherever I can. Making my own cream sauce was a pinch and I appreciated the big slices of mushrooms instead of the piddly little bits you get in canned soup.
So here we go...
Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan
Add one package mushrooms (sliced), a small diced onion (I had red onion on hand, but you can use whichever you like) and a couple cloves of minced garlic. Saute until onions are about translucent and mushrooms look cooked through.
Add about half a cup of light cream. Let cream come to a bubble and reduce 5 - 8 minutes, or until it coats the back of a spoon.
Meanwhile, boil your noodles. Any short noodle will do... I had a whole bag of egg noodles so we used those.
Add a dash of salt and a sprinkle of pepper to your cream sauce mixture. I also added some paprika and Sriracha since we like things spicy. Then toss in your chopped broccoli and two cans of chunk tuna. I went the easy route here and used frozen because we had a ton... if you get the "Steamfresh" kind like us, steam it for about 5 minutes before adding it in so it's not totally frozen. Toss everything to coat. If it's a little dry and you want your casserole "saucier" just add more cream.
Put your sauce mix and noodles in a 13x9 casserole dish and mix in a little cheese of your choice... I like Monterey Jack.
And then, um... top with more cheese.
And breadcrumbs. You know, for good measure.
Bake in a 350* oven about 25 minutes or until top is crispy.
Add one package mushrooms (sliced), a small diced onion (I had red onion on hand, but you can use whichever you like) and a couple cloves of minced garlic. Saute until onions are about translucent and mushrooms look cooked through.
Add about half a cup of light cream. Let cream come to a bubble and reduce 5 - 8 minutes, or until it coats the back of a spoon.
Meanwhile, boil your noodles. Any short noodle will do... I had a whole bag of egg noodles so we used those.
Add a dash of salt and a sprinkle of pepper to your cream sauce mixture. I also added some paprika and Sriracha since we like things spicy. Then toss in your chopped broccoli and two cans of chunk tuna. I went the easy route here and used frozen because we had a ton... if you get the "Steamfresh" kind like us, steam it for about 5 minutes before adding it in so it's not totally frozen. Toss everything to coat. If it's a little dry and you want your casserole "saucier" just add more cream.
Put your sauce mix and noodles in a 13x9 casserole dish and mix in a little cheese of your choice... I like Monterey Jack.
And then, um... top with more cheese.
And breadcrumbs. You know, for good measure.
Bake in a 350* oven about 25 minutes or until top is crispy.
Yummers. This is so comforting and hearty... and perfect for a lazy Saturday snowed in afternoon. Enjoy! :)
4 comments:
This is SO funny that you posted this. Out of the blue this weekend, I said to my husband that I could totally eat tuna noodle casserole but had zero idea how to make it. Great minds think alike! :)
That looks HEAVENLY!
Yummy! This looks awesome!
The pictures you take are amazing...looks delicious!
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