Tuna Melt into Tuna Casserole.

Hubby and I love tuna melts; tuna salad with melted cheese on grilled, buttery, crispy bread; this has got to be one of the top items on anyone's comfort food list. Of course, so is the classic tuna noodle casserole. Basically what I recently did was create a tuna melt within a tuna noodle casserole by taking out a couple of ingredients, adding others in and got the best of two comfort food dishes. Nothing fancy, nothing difficult, but everything in taste; and most especially feeling good all the way from the senses of taste and smell to that warm, comfy hug in the stomach.  

Tuna Noodle Casserole - Version #2

Instead of typing out the recipe and leaving it at that, I'll do a breakdown of ingredients and preparation steps with accompanying photos.  That way you can compare directly with my first version (click on the link in the first paragraph) and see the differences.

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked extra wide egg noodles
1 (8 oz) bag frozen baby peas, defrosted and drained of excess liquid
2 (12 oz) cans solid white albacore tuna in water, drained and broken apart
2 (10 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (white or orange)


Question?  Can fresh peas be used?  Most definitely, make sure they are firm, thoroughly rinsed and dried before using though; you want to avoid excess liquid as the casserole should be creamy, not watery.

Question?  Does Cheddar have to be used?  Sharp Cheddar balances out well with the mildness of the sauce, noodles and tuna; adding a mild cheese, it will get lost.  Adding cheese with a kick, such as Pepper Jack will boost the flavor...as to its comfort factor, that would be up to the person eating it.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F; spray the inside of a two quart baking dish with nonstick spray; it doesn't give the casserole an oily residue like butter would.

In a large bowl, mix together the cream of mushroom soup, milk and black pepper; set aside.  In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, bread crumbs and cheese until crumbly; set aside.  Now the fun begins; in a larger bowl, mix together the noodles, tuna, peas; add the liquid mixture and mix thoroughly being careful not to break the tuna up any smaller, or tear the noodles.





 



Spread this mixture evenly into the two quart baking dish.

Now take that topping that was set aside and spread it out evenly over the noodle mixture; edge to edge around the dish.  I used the Italian flavored bread crumbs to enhance the flavor of the crust that will form.  If someone doesn't like the crumb crust, it can easily be removed from a serving without effecting the overall taste of the casserole itself.









Place the casserole into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes; liquid will be bubbling up to the top and the crust will be browned. The crust forms what is similar to the grilled bread and melted cheese of a tuna melt; while the noodle and tuna mixture is the "salad" part. Noodles aren't typically in tuna salad; but if you read my post on tuna melts (click on the link in the first paragraph), you'll notice I did put macaroni and cheese inside a tuna melt.

There you have it, my second version of Tuna Noodle Casserole giving credit to a Tuna Melt.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

Classic Comfort - The Tuna Noodle Casserole

You can go back for generations and you'll find a recipe for this classic comfort food - the tuna noodle casserole. Tuna, egg noodles, peas (sometimes a peas and carrots mix), and a sauce made from scratch or using a cream soup such as celery, mushroom or a combination of both. It can be quickly mixed together, baked in no time and a real fill-you-upper kind of meal. It was especially found in households that practiced the "fish on Friday" requirement of some religions. While some children won't eat fish, the majority won't turn down tuna fish (the canned variety, not the fresh type).

The food companies even tried capitalizing on the love of this basic dish by selling a boxed skillet version which contained a packet of dry sauce and peas mix and a packet of noodles; just add tuna and water...bingo, bango...tuna casserole in a skillet. No, sorry, I don't think so; it's not that hard to make it from a recipe and use the oven to make a proper casserole.

There's comfort food and then there's "I'm really lazy food"; for me, I'll go the comfort route any time.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

 Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup each diced celery, onion and mushroom 

1 can (5 oz) chunk light tuna in water; undrained and flaked

1 can (5 oz) albacore white tuna in water; undrained and flaked

1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 can (10.5 oz) cream of celery soup

1 cup milk

1 cup frozen peas or peas/carrots mix

8 ounces noodles, cooked and drained

1/2 cup bread crumbs mixed with 2 Tbsp melted butter

Preparation:

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, melt butter; sauté celery, onion and mushroom until tender.  Combine this in a large mixing bowl with all other ingredients except the buttered bread crumbs.  Spread evenly in the baking dish; top with the buttered bread crumbs.

Bake for 30-35 minutes; until bread crumbs are browned and sauce is bubbling.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

August 18, 1982