Tuna Noodle Casserole

Nothing says "I'm totally broke!" like Tuna Noodle Casserole. This particular recipe comes from All Recipes and if you want to get technical, the true name of this recipe is Tuna Noodle Casserole I. But whatever.

Tuna Noodle Casserole I

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package wide egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can peas, drained

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large pot of salted water, boil noodles until al dente. Drain well.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine flour, butter, and salt. Stir until butter is melted and ingredients are combined evenly. Add milk, and whisk until the sauce thickens (usually it is at the proper consistency by the time it begins to boil). Add cheese to mixture, and whisk until cheese is melted and mixture is well blended. Stir in tuna, peas, and noodles. Spread evenly in prepared dish.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Akari's Musings


To be honest, what I made is only vaguely like the original recipe. I mean, I used some of the same basic ingredients, but mostly, I took the recipe and completely molded it to my will. Or something.








Let us begin with the ingredients. Her recipe calls for a basic cheese sauce made from flour, butter, milk, and cheese. But from the reviews I read, her measurements don't make very much sauce leading to a very dry casserole. So I took her sauce and replaced it with my cheese sauce. (The recipe for my macaroni and cheese casserole will follow in a separate post) I made an entire 16oz bag of noodles so James and I would have plenty of leftovers. I increased her 1 can of tuna to three and made a crunchy topping of panko bread crumbs and melted butter.

Since I didn't need to saute or brown anything for this recipe, I got to use the large burner on my stove to boil the water for the noodles. While I was waiting, I cubed up the Velveeta for the cheese sauce. I use half a block of the stuff, but you can increase or decrease as you see fit. Once the cheese is cut up, I start the roux for the cheese sauce.

The keys to a good white sauce are timing, balance, and low heat. You want to start out with equal parts butter and flour. In my case, I went with 4 and 4. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour 1 table spoon at a time until you get  a nice golden brown paste in the bottom of your pan.







Let this cook for about a minute or two. Whisk in milk a little at a time until smooth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for two minutes, stirring frequently. Be very careful. This is the stage where things can go from awesome to scortched very quickly. Keep your heat low and don't get distracted. For this recipe, this is where I added in some Garlic powder, onion powder, fresh ground pepper and a little Kosher salt. Once the sauce thickened, it was time to add in the Velveeta. I stirred this until it was smooth and then added in some mild chedder and some mozzarella cheeses.






Once the noodles were done and drained, I added in the peas and tuna to the noodles. I gave them a good stir and then added in the cheese sauce. After everything was thoroughly mixed and dumped into my brand new French white casserole dish, I sprinkled the top with Parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs. I drizzled melted butter on top and popped that bad boy in the oven for 30 minutes.





Okay, maybe drizzled isn't the right word. It sort of poured out too fast and settled in only a few places. It served it's purpose, however.

I freaking love panko. I don't know what I would do with out it. Everything breaded in it comes out crunchier and less filled with grease. It makes a killer crunchy topping for casseroles when you mix it with a little melted butter. I got introduced to the stuff on Alton Brown's Good Eats. I never thought to look for them in my area because despite the very large Asian population around here, we have very few Asian markets. As luck would have it, while I was searching for a bread crumbs for crab cakes, I happened to stumble upon a lone box of Kikkoman's panko bread crumbs. My heart leapt with joy and into my cart it went. I made Chicken Katsu that night for dinner and I was totally hooked on those light, airy crumbs of bread from The Land of the Rising Sun. You can do just about anything with panko that you can do with regular bread crumbs, except use them in something like meatloaf or crab cakes where the bread is used to soak up liquid to make food glue. I've had little to no success using them in this application, so I just save them for a yummier time.




And this, my friends, is what it looked like just a couple seconds after coming out of the oven. I definitely made too much sauce. It sort of bubbled over while baking. I think next time, I'll reduce it down to 3 and 3. The panko and Parmesan cheese browned up nicely.

My husband about lost his mind over this casserole. He is one of those weirdos who absolutely loves Tuna Noodle Casserole. He's always trying to sneak tuna helper into the cart when we go grocery shopping. This would go into the make again folder based on his reaction alone. I actually enjoyed this dish a lot. I wasn't really expecting to. I mean, it's Tuna Noodle Casserole for crying out loud. The Velveeta in the sauce kept it creamy and the panko gave it enough of a contrast that it wasn't just cheesey goo in my mouth. Next time, I'm going to increase the amount of tuna. There just isn't enough tuna flavor. Maybe after it sits for awhile and I reheat it for lunch tomorrow, the flavors will have a chance to meld. Right now, the tuna-ness just isn't impressing me.

Tuna Noodle Casserole I as written fails, but Tuna Noodle Casserole I Redux gets the Akari Hoshi Stamp of Approval.

~Akari~