Tuna Noodle Casserole

My youngest asked for tuna casserole tonight!  It’s been a long time since I made this so I browsed a few cookbooks and ended up with following the basic recipe in Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition – 2006, which is really a great source of all kinds of great recipes, even old fashioned casseroles! (I was surprised to see our favorite King Ranch Chicken in here as well!). I used to make this with crushed potato chips on top, but we had some crackers about to go stale so I crushed them up instead and mixed with some Parmesan cheese and melted butter. Yum. This recipe called for a smaller tuna to noodle ratio than I was used to, but it’s quite good. If you need to stretch it out though you could easily add more noodles.

First, cook 4 oz of egg noodles to make 2 cups cooked noodles, and drain.   While they’re cooking you can mix together the rest of the casserole.

• 2 7-oz cans of tuna, drained
• 1 1.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 2 cups cooked egg noodles (4 oz uncooked)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup canned pimentos
• 2 Tbs chopped green onions
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup cracker crumbs (or bread crumbs)
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 2-3 Tbs melted butter

Drain the tuna and put it in a large bowl. Use a fork to break it up into small chunks. Mix in the soup, milk, cooked noodles, peas, pimentos (or substitute minced red bell pepper), onions, and Worcestershire sauce.

Put the casserole mix into a shallow 1 1/2 or 2 qt baking dish, greased.

Mix together the bread or cracker crumbs, cheese and butter. (Or use crushed potato chips!). Spread the crumb mixture on top, then bake uncovered at 375 F for 25 -35 minutes.

serves 4-5.