Tuna Noodle Casserole

Or as I like to call it....Toonie Casserole.  Once in a while, I have this overwhelming yen for it.  I'm fairly certain this is my body telling me I need the vitamins and minerals the tuna offers.  Most of the time, my body just tells me it needs brownies.

Here's what you'll need to make it:

Ingredients:

1 Can Tuna, drained

2T+ Diced Onion (or to taste)

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup (or 1 1/2C homemade)

1/4C Milk

2C Noodles of choice, uncooked

1/4-1/2C Sour Cream (or to taste)

1 1/2C Shredded Cheddar 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fill a large pot with water.  Add about a tablespoon of salt.

 

Bring water to a rolling boil.  Add uncooked pasta.

Give it a stir to make sure they don't stick together or to bottom of the pan.

Set your timer to two minutes LESS than the time stated on pasta bag.

In the meantime, grease your casserole dish. 

Use a butter wrapper to do this, just like Grandma.

Well, not my grandma, but somebody's grandma.

There's plenty there to grease it with, I promise.

 See, greasy!

And don't forget to grate your cheese.  Just however much you want.

I have about a cup and a half here. Wish I had more.

Next, we'll start assembling our ingredients.

I start by putting my diced onion in a large bowl.  I'm only doing a couple of 

tablespoons because my child will be eating this.  I'm not even

sure if he will eat it, but I know he won't find a lot of onions appealing!

Next, drain tuna and flake into bowl

By now, your noodles are getting close to being done.  Give them

a check.  They should be somewhere a bit under al dente.  Drain.

Do not rinse.  Noodles need that starch for sauce to cling to them.

Add to your bowl of goodies.

Mix in about 1/4-1/2C sour cream.  Depends on your taste.

I only had about 1/4C, but darn, I wish I had more. Love it!

 Next, add your cream of mushroom soup.  I made a cream soup base

that I am using here.  Make that on a different day.  Trust me.  This took

me two hours to make all together!  Of course, I was taking pics and stuff!

I'm adding in 1 1/2C (about the size of a can).  I'm not going to add any

milk since mine is hot and seems plenty runny right now.  If you are using

a can. I suggest adding about 1/4C of milk at this point.   And give it a stir.

Mix it together and give it a taste.  Taste good?  Good! 

Need a little salt?  Okay.  But don't add it until after the next step.

Take about 1/2 of your cheese and throw it in.  Ooooh, action shot!

Stir gently.  You don't want to melt the cheese and make it stringy.

You want to have little gooey bits of melted cheese 

here and there in your finished casserole.  See...not melted.

Give it a taste.  Add some salt now if needed.  Remember, you'll

have some more cheese on top that will add to the saltiness.

 Pour the whole thing into your buttered casserole dish.

Did you know?  According to scientific foodie, Alton Brown,

you should only cook a casserole in a dish that is round or oblong.  

Why?  Because he said so!  No, really, it's because the food in the corners of

a square or rectangular dish dry out and get crusty because they cook faster!  

Who knew?!  (Well, I did, but I watch a lot of Food Network)

Sprinkle the rest of your shredded cheese on top evenly.

Cover with foil and slide into a 350F oven. Or in my case, a 350F

toaster oven.  It's really hot today.  I don't want to heat the joint up.

Bake for about 30 minutes.  You can take the foil off at about 25 min

if you like the top nice and crusty.

Idn't it purdy, ya'all!?  Sorry...I was having a Paula Dean moment!

I love tuna casserole.  So creamy, so comforting.

That there is a little slice glob of heaven on a plate to me!

Notes:

This was just what I was hankerin' for!  My son even ate it. Of  course, I called it chicken casserole, lol!  He's never come within 10 feet of something that looks like this, so I was glad he was willing to try.  After he said he loved it, I told him it was tuna, LOL!  He was surprised, but didn't care.  He had seconds and thirds!

I usually use something like rotini or those little corkscrews for this. They tend to let a lot more sauce swim around them.  The macaroni was good, but it seemed to have sucked up a lot of the moisture.

If you've never made your own cream soup base before, I highly recommend it.  Recipe HERE. So easy and tastes like heaven!!!

Feel free to add any veggies you like.  I've just never been a fan of peas in my tuna casserole.  Or potato chips on top, but you can do that too if you like.  I won't judge you (very much).

Maybe the next time you make tuna casserole, you'll think of me. Wait a minute...is that really a good thing?   ;o)

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