One Teaspoon From Disaster

Tuna New-dle

• Posted June 24, 2006 3:01 AM
• 0 Comments

Think you can’t improve a classic? Well, it turns out you can especially if it wasn’t so great to start.

Take tuna noodle casserole––an unfortunate and unhealthy staple in every busy family’s dinner rotation which could really use a twist. Here’s a recipe that does just that. It eliminates that trademark goopy-ness and adds fresh veggies. The recipe calls for quite a bit of cheese, in my opinion, but I say if you’re not pouring cream-based soup on this, who cares?

Be sure to mix this well before spreading in the baking dish, otherwise the casserole ends up layered with a thick noodle crust, trust me.

This is something you could make in advance, simply waiting to sprinkle the bread crumbs on top until right before baking. So, start a new casserole tradition, and feel free to submit recipes for others. I’ll whip them up and we’ll see how they compare.

Tuna noodle casserole
Ingredients:
6 ounces no-yolk noodles
2 tsp. butter or margarine, divided
1 red bell pepper, chopped
½ small white onion, chopped
1 ½ C. fresh mushrooms, chopped
2 Tbsp. flour
1 ½ C. milk
1 C. cheese, shredded (your choice)
12 ounces water-canned tuna, drained and separated
½ C. dried bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9- by 12-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.
Combine flour and milk and set aside. In a large container, sauté half of the butter with bell pepper, onion and mushrooms until cooked. Add milk mixture to veggies until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Then add tuna and noodles. Spread into baking dish and top with bread crumbs and remaining melted butter mixed together. Sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top. Bake until crunchy on top (about 20 minutes or so).