In these tough economic times, we are all looking to make ends meet. My mother used to tell stories about making Tuna Casserole (with potato chips crumbled on top) early in my parent's marriage. While I like tuna sandwiches, I don't know if I can get behind the casserole idea. But here's a
recipe from the Amateur Gourmet. He got it from this
book. A few weeks later, he posted a "gourmet" version. You can read it
here.
From the post:
"The assembly and cooking of this casserole couldn't be easier (which is why, I'm sure, it's such an American staple.)
- Boil 1 bag (12-oz.) of egg noodles until just al dente.
- Mix the cooked noodles with 1 (16 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup (I had two cans b/c I could only find 10 oz. cans), 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 (6 oz.) cans white albacore tuna drained, 1 large white onion (chopped), 1 16 oz. package frozen sweet peas and salt and pepper.
- Lay it all in a 2 1/2 to 3 quart casserole dish.
I have to make a confession here. In tasting this unbaked mixture to see if the seasoning was right, I REALLY liked it. Like way more than I should have. Somehow the uncooked tuna, the cold (still frozen) peas, the raw onion, the cheese and the just-cooked egg noodles worked some kind of magic in my mouth that let me ignore the gross, glue-like mushroom soup that was also mixed in there. If I ever reinvent a tuna noodle casserole (a subject I'll get to again at the end of this post), a raw food version might not be out of the question!
Into the oven it went--375 F--for 35 to 40 minutes (until bubbling.)
Out it came and on went the coup de grâce: crushed potato chips (a few handfuls.)
Back into the oven it went for 10 minutes."
4 comments:
Ugh. Fortunately, we never had this growing up because my mom wasn't really into the whole casserole thing, and she really HATED tuna noodle casserole. That's because it was a staple in my grandmother's cooking repetoire when my mom was a child. My grandmother wasn't ever much of a cook; she'd moved on to Hamburger Helper by the time I could remember her cooking.
I also had a childhood devoid of tuna noodle casserole because my father had an abhorrence of warm tuna and what he called "wet meat", i.e. sloppy joe type food (although chili was not in this category, go figure.) I think I may have inherited my father's dislike of warm tuna...
C - OOH Hamburger Helper. Now that's something to get behind.
Philly - I have come to sloppy joes late in life. But I like them.
Try making the recipe with chow mein noodles in place of egg noodles for an interesting flavor and a bit more texture. It's quicker, too since you don't have to precook them. I use the c.m. noodles in bags and one bag has enough noodles for 2 casseroles. Add a 1/4 cup of water along with the cream of mushroom soup and the rest of the ingredients you've listed and bake at 350 for 1/2 hr. My college roommate introduced me to this dish ca. 1970 and it's made it to the dining room table every now and then over all these years.
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