Tuna noodle casserole
Do you have any food memories that transport you back to your childhood? Tuna noodle casserole does that for me. Little six-year-old me, sitting at the counter in our cozy townhome in Glyndon, Maryland watching mom cook up our favorite dinner. How could such few simple ingredients be transformed into such a delicious, soul-warming meal? The alluring smell of cheesy, seafood-y pasta bubbling away in the oven. It’s enough to call any grass-stained, yard-playing, busy child inside for dinner. My brother and I would ask our mom to make tuna noodle casserole at least once a week. It even sounds so right, rolling off the tongue with finesse.
Tuna noodle casserole is by no means a fancy dish, but, like every other casserole, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. A budget meal made with pantry staples that’s still a wholesome meal everyone will love. When I was young, tuna was inexpensive and there were only really two kinds available: chunk/solid white or chunk/solid lite. Mom always bought the “good stuff,” the filet-mignon of canned tuna, the chunk white. White meat tuna was prim and proper; there was no room for that rubbish “dark meat.” Goodness if we only knew then what we know now about tuna and its toxic levels of mercury, we’d have opted for the “lite meat” all the time! We are now well more informed that what was referred to as “lite” tuna was the skipjack tuna, ironically today’s cream of the crop. Skipjack is the lowest-mercury tuna option, and it’s the only one we buy. Furthermore, we only buy Safe Catch brand, as this company tests all its fish for mercury levels and only packages the meat from those with the lowest levels. Recently, however, I discovered Trader Joe’s carries its own version under the Safe Catch brand for a fraction of the price! So, we stock up on TJ’s brand when we can.
When I make tuna noodle casserole for my kids, I pull out all the bells and whistles to make it with cleanest ingredients: organic, grass-fed milk; organic, raw, grass-fed cheddar cheese; organic gluten-free brown rice pasta; organic frozen peas, Safe Catch (or TJ’s) skipjack tuna; and Pacific brand organic cream of celery soup. The cream of celery soup is the key secret ingredient here. You can’t omit it. This canned soup is the cleanest I can find and I love the ingredients. But, even though I use this canned soup all the time, I still feel like I’m cheating a bit. So this past week I made tuna noodle casserole and, since I actually didn’t have a can of the cream of celery in my pantry, I decided to make my own. How hard could it be?
I finely diced celery, onion, and garlic and sauteed them in grass-fed butter with salt and pepper. That’s it, no herbs or other spices. Then once the aromatics were cooked down and translucent, I pureed them in the food processor and then returned the thick mash to the pan. I added the milk and brought the sauce to a simmer, allowing it to slowly reduce and thicken. Once it was thick and creamy, I added shredded cheddar and allowed the cheese to melt, thickening the sauce even more. Then, for the final touch, I stirred in the flakes of tuna, frozen peas, and cooked brown rice pasta (al dente of course). I then poured the entire mixture into a baking dish and baked it at 350 F for about an hour.
My kids and husband loved my entirely scratch-made version of tuna noodle casserole. In fact, I was even lucky enough to have my mom and brother and my dad try it as well, and everyone agreed it was even better than the canned soup version! So from now on, I think I’ll be making my own cream of celery soup for this dish, and only when I’m in a pinch, I’ll use the canned soup.
Tuna noodle casserole
12-16 oz. organic brown rice pasta, such as Jovial brand
1 10.5 oz. can Pacific Foods cream of celery soup OR homemade version below
5-6 oz. Trader Joe’s or Safe Catch tuna (two 3 oz. pouches or one 5 oz. can)
1-1.5 cups organic, frozen peas
8 oz. organic, raw, grass-fed sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1.5-2 cups organic, grass-fed milk
For the cream of celery sauce/soup:
3 ribs of celery, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 Tbsp. organic, grass-fed butter
salt and black pepper, to taste
Cook the pasta, being sure to undercook it to keep it al dente. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and set it aside, reserving some of the pasta water in case you need it to add to the casserole.
If you’re using the canned soup, mix together the condensed soup, milk, cheese, frozen peas (no need to defrost!), and tuna, being sure to break up the tuna into fine chunks or flakes. Then add in the cooked pasta and stir. If the mixture looks a bit dry, you can add in some of the reserved pasta water. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. You can mix all these ingredients right in the casserole dish you are using to save dishes.
If you are making the cream of celery from scratch, make this next. Sautee the celery, onions, and garlic in the butter. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Once the vegetables cook down thoroughly and become translucent. Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool for a few minutes before adding them to the food processor. Puree the vegetable mixture in the food processor until you achieve a thick, creamy mash of sorts. Return the mash to the pan and bring the pan to a low heat. Add the milk and stir, allowing the sauce to thicken. Season again with more salt and black pepper to taste. Once the sauce is thick, add the shredded cheese. Once again, allow the sauce to meld together and thicken even more. Then, stir in the frozen peans, no need to defrost them! Stir in the tuna, breaking up the chunks into small flakes and pieces. Finally, add in the cooked pasta. If the dish looks a little dry, now is the time to add in some of the reserved pasta water. Pour all the ingredients into a glass or ceramic baking dish.
Once all the ingredients are mixed together and ready to go in the baking dish, you can bake the dish now or even allow it to chill overnight in the fridge and bake it the next day when you’re ready to eat. Bake at 350F, covered, for about 45 minutes, and then another 15 minutes uncovered. Allow to cool before serving! Enjoy with a side of steamed green beans or broccoli.