You Can’t Tune A Piano, But You Can Tuna Fish… Casserole

Happiest of Mondays, everybody. There’s a distinct chill in the air, there’s snow on the ground, so you know what that means. Yes, it’s excuse #5,371 to make us some comfort food.

I’ve really been enjoying my kick of making really old, homestyle dinner recipes lately. I got a lot of great feedback about the shepherd’s pie and the spaghetti and meatballs before that. So, I was thinking, what comfort classic could top those? I wanted something that would resonate with people. A long-forgotten memory. Maybe something that’s oft-maligned that I could improve upon.

It hit me like a bolt out of the grey Ottawa skies. Something I haven’t come across ANYWHERE since I was but a kid. Not in any restaurant, hotel or takeaway menu that I’ve seen. A dish that crept its way up from the tattered corners of my brain, begging to be re-explored. A whisper of a whisper.

“Tuna Noodle Casserole”

How could I have overlooked this one? An old warhorse, as much a punchline as a dish these days. It’s easy to dunk on this casserole in theory, but in practice? So friggin’ delicious. It’s easy, pretty fast and you probably have all the stuff to make it already!

When it came out of the oven, Liz and I were drooling. It was so hard to let it cool before I cracked into it, trusty Pikachu-spatula in hand. Tuna casserole, where have you been all these years? The first bite brought me back, Ratatouille-style, to my parent’s old house in South Keys. I was just a lad, eating my mom’s tuna casserole, straight out of the Tupperware while watching afternoon cartoons on YTV.

Making a quick white sauce around the onions and celery ensures for a creamy, dreamy casserole and using lots of tuna… well, that makes it taste more like tuna fish, which is a win if you ask me. Some breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan make a golden, crispy topping once mixed with some good olive oil. The crunch is where it’s at.

As a side note, Scarlett was elated that she got to drink all the tuna water, so really a win-win dish at the old Berman-Resnick ranch.

There’s really not too much more to say about this old dish, so let’s get right into the recipe, shall we?

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely diced
• 2-3 stalks of celery, finely diced
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 30g (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
• 500mL (2 cups) 2% milk
• Celery salt, to taste
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• 3 170g cans flaked white tuna, drained
• 340g egg noodles
• 290g (2 cups) frozen peas
• 135g (2/3 cup) panko or regular bread crumbs
• 67g (1/3 cup) finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Set a rack in the middle of the oven. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat a film of canola oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and a large pinch of salt and sweat for 5-7 minutes, until softened and translucent.
2. Add the celery and continue cooking 4-5 minutes more, until the celery has begun to soften.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir together with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook until the raw flour aroma is gone, 3-4 minutes.
4. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring the whole time and gradually bring the mixture up to a simmer. It will thicken as it simmers, so stir often to prevent scorching on the bottom. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil.
5. Reduce the heat under the sauce to low and cook the egg noodles until just barely al dente, maybe 2 minutes shy of the package directions. Drain them.
6. Add the tuna to the sauce, stir to combine and shut the heat off under the pot. Dump the egg noodles in, stirring to combine everything evenly. Add the peas. The residual heat from everything else will be enough to thaw them gently. Season the mixture to taste with salt, black pepper, celery salt and cayenne pepper.
7. Grease an oven-proof casserole dish with olive oil and spread your casserole mixture evenly into it.
8. In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan, drizzling enough olive oil into the mix so that it looks like wet sand when mixed with a fork. Spread the topping evenly over the casserole.
9. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes, rotating the dish halfway through cooking to ensure even browning, just like I didn’t.
10. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before cracking into this bad boi.

Well, there you have it. I’m going to be completely honest here, my expectation for this one wasn’t as high as usual. But this dish was an undisputed cham-peen. I’ll for sure be making it again. Mom, this one’s for you! The memory of your delicious tuna casserole was a big inspiration for this interpretation.

So, what homestyle family dinner should I tackle next? Meatloaf? Chicken pot pie? Brisket? Chicky-chicky parm-parm? Let me know if you have any suggestions of a dish from your childhood in the comments down below or shoot me an e-mail. Until next time, pals!