Hi Housewives!

Today’s recipe is for a tasty tuna casserole.  If you don’t love tuna then this dish may not be for you.  I, however, absolutely love tuna!  It is and has always been one of my favorite things to eat of all time, even as a kid.  For me there is nothing better than a good old tuna salad sandwich.  My childhood friend Gina and I would always eat tuna sandwiches topped with American cheese accompanied with a side of Doritos. Today, I also eat it on top of salads or mixed in with pasta.  If having sushi, tuna is what I order.  Ok…As you can see, I’m getting overly excited about this tuna talk and have to get back to my recipe here which is for – Tuna Casserole!

I remember my mother making this on Fridays during Lent as a child and my father and I used to go wild over it.  I loved it and have been trying to perfect it for some time now.  Although, it’ll never measure up to hers in my heart and mind, I do think I have come pretty close to getting it right this time.  The key I think here is making the soup first and then mixing it with the noodles which I had not done other times and I believe it really made all the difference.  This recipe is pretty simple and doesn’t call for many ingredients but you can add whatever else you like to it…remember I am trying to make it exactly the way my mother did but I’ve seen it with peas or even celery from time to time.

• 1 bag of egg no yolk noodles
• 2 large cans of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup (22.4 ounces) or 4 cans of using the small size (14 ounce)
• 3 cans of Bumble Bee tuna – solid in water
• Bread Crumbs for topping (seasoned)
• Shredded Cheddar (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil a pot of salted water for your noodles and cook noodles until al dente.  Meanwhile in another pot make your cream of mushroom soup according to the cooking directions on the can – I used water not milk.

Drain your tuna and chop up tuna using a fork to make it a little less chunky.  You can add your cooked soup to this big bowl or add the tuna to the soup pot and mix all together.

When noodles are cooked and drained place them in a pyrex baking dish.  Add your soup and tuna and mix all together.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Top with seasoned bread crumbs – the more the merrier.

Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes depending on how crispy you like the top.  When the top is golden and crispy it’s done.  You can also broil it for a few minutes to brown it further but watch it because it can burn quickly.

Serve and enjoy!  I like to at this point top it with shredded cheddar but that’s optional!

RHC