Tuna Melt Casserole

I confess to having a certain fondness for tuna and salmon casseroles. I mean, can you ever have too many recipes for this? I have my favourites of course, but every so often I get a hankering to try something new and when I saw this one the other day, I just had to give it a go! Of course I can never leave well enough alone and so I adapted it to our own tastes and what I had in the cupboard, etc.

Another confession . . . I don't eat cheap tuna. I don't like it. I don't like the way it tastes and I am, yes . . . a tuna snob. An old Italian woman stopped me in the grocery store one time and told me to only ever buy Albacore Tuna, that the rest was garbage . . . and well, you just have to trust old Italian women, don't you? They know what they are talking about. That same woman told me that I should only ever buy rounded ended carrots, that they were sweeter and she was right about that too. ☺

And so . . . I only ever buy and consume white albacore tuna and snub nosed carrots. And I am quite happy with that. The carrots do taste better and so does the tuna. Fact.

So I digress . . . I love a good tuna melt and I love a good tuna casserole . . . A Tuna Melt Casserole has to be delicious right? RIGHT!

This was pretty tasty with a delicious cheese sauce (no cream soup here) and lots of broccoli and just enough tuna, plus just look at those lovely tomatoes on top and of course the extra cheese.

Very moreish indeed. If you can, try to use whole wheat pasta. Not only is it more nutritious but it is lower GI. I only ever use whole wheat pasta these days. And whole wheat bread. Its just better for you. In any case I hope you will give it a go, and that you enjoy it as much as we do. Okay, so Todd wasn't too happy about the pasta part, but he said for a pasta dish it was pretty good. I take that as a bonus! ☺

*Tuna Melt Casserole*

Serves 6

Printable Recipe

All the flavours of a traditional tuna melt, except in a casserole dish. Delicious!

1 pound of large rigatoni pasta

2 broccoli crowns, broken into florets (about 4 cups)

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

1 tsp dried mustard powder

2 pints milk (4 cups)

salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces swiss cheese, grated (1 cup)

4 ounces strong cheddar cheese grated (1 cup)

2 tins of albacore tuna, in water, drained and flaked (2 4-ounce tins)

2 to 3 medium tomatoes, sliced

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water, according to the package directions, adding broccoli the last five minutes. Drain well. Rise and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Whisk in the flour and mustard powder. Cook for one minute.

Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to the boil slowly, and cook until thickened, whisking constantly. Stir half of the cheeses to melt. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in the drained and flaked tuna and the broccoli and cooked pasta.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.

Butter a 9 by 13 inch casserole dish. Pour the tuna mixture into it and level off. Place the sliced tomatoes on top. Scatter over the remaining cheese. Cover with a buttered sheet of foil and then bake for 25 minutes until bubbling. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes longer. Serve hot.