Tuna Casserole

One daughter loves it; one hates it. Ah well. The 70's cookbooks call for cream of celery soup and crushed potato chips on top it seems. I went for the homemade white sauce last night. If I were to do it differently, I might add a bit of cheddar cheese to the sauce, or maybe just add some diced chunks when I mixed the sauce, noodles, and tuna. I also like a recipe that calls for sauteed diced celery and onion, plus some chopped pimentos. It's nice and colorful! This was good but a bit bland for my tastes, although it suited the girl just fine.

8 ounces egg noodles, cooked and drained

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
1 tsp dry mustard
2 cups milk
a dash of cayenne pepper
salt to taste, maybe 1/2 tsp to start

12 ounces tuna, drained and flaked
1/2 cup chopped green onions (optional)

2 Tbs butter, melted
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs or 1/2 cup fresh

Cook the egg noodles. Preheat the oven to 375.
Meanwhile, make a white sauce. Melt the butter of medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and mustard and cook a couple of minutes, stirring almost constantly. Turn up the heat a bit and slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce and simmer a minute or two until thickened. Stir in the noodles and tuna, then pour into a 2 quart casserole dish (8x8 pan works great).

Mix the melted butter and bread crumbs, then crumble over the casserole. Sprinkle with paprika.

You can make it ahead to this point, cover and refrigerate. Bake it an extra 10-15 minutes to make sure it's heated through.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.