Tuna Noodle Casserole - A Favorite Comfort Food!

I arrived at Michael’s on Saturday and we made do with meals consisting of take-out and my leftover fish and chips lunch from Red Robin that I had the day before. With nothing planned for cooking on Sunday, I took inventory of what we had and found tuna, cream of mushroom soup, noodles and frozen peas, so I decided to make a Tuna Noodle Casserole. The only thing I needed was potato chips and since we don’t keep those around the house, because chips are a weakness of ours, I did need to make a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up a bag.

I can’t remember the last time I even had tuna casserole, it’s probably been at least……..well, let’s just say it’s been a long time. But for some reason, I’ve been thinking about it and craving it for several months, so the decision to prepare it for lunch wasn’t difficult. Since I have never made tuna casserole before, I began my search and found a couple of recipes that looked a little like the casserole I remember eating as a child. Then I decided to ask the maker of the tuna casserole of my past, my sister Jean. When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time with my sister and her family, mostly because her children, my niece and nephews, were only a few years younger than me and we often played together, and she and her family also spent a good bit of time at my parents’ home, so I ate a lot of my sister’s cooking. Even though she has always been a good cook, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of her delicious meals over the years, this has been one of her dishes that I remember the most. I imagine, since money was tight for her young family, it was a cheap and easy meal to prepare for a family of five, and her little sister, therefore was made frequently.

Between what I found on the internet and some input from Jean, I was able to come up with the following recipe.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
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1 (12 ounce) bag egg noodles, cooked al-dente
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, not diluted.
3/4 cup milk
2 (7 ounce) cans tuna, packed in water, do not drain!
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
1 cup green peas - used frozen straight from the bag.
1 generous pinch black pepper.
1 cup crushed potato chips


Oven Temperature: 375°F

Preheat oven.

Crush potato chips and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package for al-dente, and drain.

In a large bowl, combine noodles, soup, milk, tuna, peas, salt and cheese, if using; mix to combine and coat well.
Pour into a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle crushed potato chips evenly on top.
Bake, uncovered for 30 min until bubbly.
Servings: 4 to 6

Notes:
I had some tuna in foil packages on hand so used 6 (2.6 oz each) of those.

Cream of celery soup may be used in place of cream of mushroom.

I know, I'm missing step by step pictures. Well, first, I really hadn't planned to blog about this just yet but then changed my mind and second, this is such an easy dish to prepare that I really don't think pictures would be that helpful. It's basically a mix and dump recipe....I think there were a lot of meals like that in the 60's and 70's.

Wanted to show you these cool new oven mitts that I just bought. I always worry about dropping the casserole dish when I use my other mitts since the dish doesn't have any handles. One day when I was browsing at TJMaxx I found these, they have ribbed silicone pads, great for gripping the dish and my hand slips inside the mitts and are protected from coming in contact with the oven and racks. I also use them when handling my hot cast iron skillet and when taking the insert out of my crockpot when it's hot. I love them! They aren't my favorite color but that was all I could get.

I really don't remember whether my sister's tuna casserole had a potato chip topping on it or not but I liked the idea so went with it. I put some chips in a plastic food storage bag and squeezed until they were crushed.

Michael was more than ready to dig in. By the time I got back from Giant Eagle, he was hungry and even grabbed the bag of chips and started eating those. I was afraid there wouldn't be any left for the casserole.

He's a little bit of a messy guy - I should have cleaned off his bowl before taking the photo but he didn't want to wait that long, I'm surprised he stopped long enough for me to take this picture. Don't try to touch the dish of a starving man.

I didn’t know if Michael liked tuna casserole and really wasn’t sure that I still did. When I was little, I used to eat cold spaghetti out of a can and now the thought disgusts me almost as much as it used to my older brother when he witnessed this display.

Mmmmm, it's as good as I remember! Michael liked it too and said he wanted to go back for seconds but was afraid of eating too much. This is definitely going to be prepared again.

Quesadillla Casserole

Are you like me, always on the lookout for new recipes, gadgets and other products to use in cooking and baking, or am I just weird that way? I've found some good and some bad. Some of my best finds have been by accident, like the one I’m going to tell you about.

One day while in Meijer, I was wandering through my favorite isle, the baking section. I was looking at the spices when I noticed a product that I had never seen before. It’s made by McCormick and is called Recipe Inspirations and is a card that includes the recipe and all the spices that are needed to prepare the dish. I thought this was a great idea……I could try a new recipe without having to buy a lot of spices that I may never use again. If you’re like me, there has been many a time when you’ve found a recipe that you want to try and have had to purchase one or two jars of a spice that you don’t already have. Then, if you didn’t like that recipe, you’ve spent a lot of money for a spice that will probably just take up valuable cabinet space until it goes stale and you have to eventually toss it. Buying one of the Recipe Inspiration packets would eliminate that problem. Not only is it a good product for people who are seasoned cooks but is especially nice for new cooks, people who haven’t built up a supply of spices or even a collection of recipes….none of which is a problem for me. There were several packets to choose from so I picked one for Quesadilla Casserole and another for a pork chop recipe, which I’ll make in a few weeks.

A couple of weeks ago I needed to make dinner and couldn’t decide what I wanted to prepare…..other than  Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken, I hadn’t tried anything new in a while. I was looking through the cabinet when I spied the Recipe Inspirations packets that I had placed there and forgotten about. I decided, since I had some ground beef in the fridge, to try the Quesadilla Casserole and I’m glad I did. It was quick, easy and good and since I have a large selection of spices, I already have the ones needed to prepare this recipe again. Now I can’t wait to try the one for pork chops.

Quesadillla Casserole
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1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 oz.) chopped green chiles, undrained
6 flour tortillas (8-inch)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 teapoons chili powder
1 teapoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1. Brown beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired.

2. Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese.

3. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Servings: 8
Oven Temperature: 350°F

Notes:
I used a Four Cheese Mexican blend instead of cheddar.
Can substitute approx. 2-2 1/2 cups shredded chicken in place of ground beef. Saute onion in a little oil and then add chicken, continue following the rest of the procedures.

The Recipe Inspirations card.

Front of recipe card

Back of recipe card. Has the recipe including names of spices and amounts needed.

These are the little spice packets with the names and measurements printed on the back.

Brown ground beef and onion.

I have a confession to make…..I love kitchen gadgets! I love kitchen gadgets so much that whenever I see a new one, I usually purchase it. I know I have too many of them, some I use a lot and some, I’m embarrassed to say, have only been used once or twice and are now stored in the back of a cupboard or in a box. This is one of my favorites. In fact, I like it so much that not only do I have one at home, but bought one to keep at Michael’s apartment. It’s a strainer that I bought from Pampered Chef several years ago and use it to strain fat from ground beef and water for small amounts of pasta.

I’m a huge fan of Pampered Chef and like the products so much that many years ago, I was a consultant. Hmmm, now that I’m retired, maybe I should get back into this again.

Drain and add tomato sauce.

Add beans, corn and green chiles; mix well.

Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired. I wasn’t sure about the red pepper. As I’ve said before, Michael and I don’t like a lot of heat in our food, we like a little but don’t like so much that we feel as though we could breathe fire. After tasting the sauce, I decided to add the red pepper to the ingredients and found that it wasn’t too hot at all.

Spread 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed.

 Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture.

I usually buy a block of cheddar cheese and grate it myself.  Not only is fresher and melts better but cheaper too, but I saw this Mexican blend and thought it would be perfect in this recipe and it was.

Cover with half of the cheese.

Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese. Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes or until heated through.

The finished casserole. Let it rest about five minutes before serving. Michael hates the resting part of a dish, he's always ready to dig in as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Michael and I both really liked this recipe. I especially liked it because it was quick and easy…a great go to meal when you are hungry and rushed for time.

 About a week later I had some leftover roast chicken so decided to try using it in this recipe. I shredded about 2 to 2 1/2 cups and added it to the sauce.....we liked it even more than using the ground beef. Not only was it better but quicker to prepare as well.

Another new and successful recipe to add to my file.

Baked Ziti

This recipe is one of my favorites! I’ve had this for a long time…so long that I can’t even remember where I got it. I discovered this recipe back when I first started cooking….up until this time if I wanted an Italian type meal, I usually made spaghetti, which I do love but sometimes you want just a little bit more. I was happy that this was so easy….everything could be purchased already prepared. A jar of sauce, a bag of shredded mozzarella and that green can of Parmesan…..I knew how to cook pasta, and the Ricotta just needed to be removed from the carton. Easy, easy, easy…I loved it! Not only was it easy, it was good and it was good enough to impress dinner guests too.

Many years have passed and my cooking skills have improved but I still go back to this recipe. Now, I usually make my own sauce, add either Italian sausage or ground beef, shred my own mozzarella and use freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano. But when pressed for time or when I just don’t feel like putting too much energy into dinner, I will use a jar of sauce and doctor it up a bit and buy pre-shredded mozzarella, although I still insist on using freshly grated Parm. In other words this recipe can be used no matter where you stand with your cooking skills….from novice to someone who has cooked for years.

Baked Ziti
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1/2 pound ziti pasta (or other small pasta)
1 container ricotta cheese (15 oz.)
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (12 oz.) divided
3 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound Italian Sausage, browned (not in original recipe..see Notes)

Preheat the oven to 350 . In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the ziti until just barely tender; drain and place in a large bowl. Mix the ricotta cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese with the ziti. Grease a 9x13 baking pan; cover the bottom of pan with half the spaghetti sauce. Spoon the ziti mixture into the pan; cover with the remaining spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until cheese melts and is slightly golden.

Notes: This recipe calls for store bought sauce but I'll sometimes use my own homemade. When I use sauce from a jar I'll sometimes use it straight from the jar but usually will doctor it up...for my blog post, I browned 1 pound of Italian Sausage while I prepared the rest of the recipe. The way I make it is determined by how much time I how much time I want to spend cooking.
 

  In case you don't know what ziti looks like. This is a one pound box so I used half.

Cook ziti....undercook it a little because it will cook a little more while in the oven. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Since I was adding Italian sausage, I browned it before putting together the other ingredients.

This is one of my favorite prepared sauces. Choose whatever you like...use it straight from the jar or add other ingredients and/or spices or you can even use your own homemade sauce. Just use whatever you like or what is easiest for you.

I added the sauce to the Italian sausage and let it simmer while preparing the other ingredients. If you are using sauce straight from the jar, it doesn't need to be heated.

Mix together ziti, grated mozzarella and Ricotta.

Place half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 dish.

Add ziti, cheese mixture on top of the sauce.

Add remaining sauce.

Next, I added the mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce then looked around and noticed that my Parmesan cheese was still sitting on the counter. It should have been added before the mozzarella.....Ooops! Sometimes cooking and taking pictures at the same time is a little much for me and I'll miss a step from time to time.

The missing Parmesan.

So, I added the Parmesan last. That's what I like about cooking....some things don't have to be done in the exact order and the dish will still be good.

Thirty minutes later.......

I let it rest for about 10 minutes and then we dug in.  Add some bread and a salad and there you have it, an easy and good meal.

Lasagna, Lasagne….you say tomayto, I say tomaato

How do you spell it? I’ve seen it written both ways but my Word spell check suggests lasagna and since I can't stand those little red lines showing up under the words in my sentences, I'll spell it ending with an "a".

What can I say about this wonderful food? Nothing except that it is one of my favorite things to eat and that I could probably eat it every day and whenever I go to an Italian restaurant, this is always my first choice. I’ll vary from time to time but always go back to lasagna. 

I can't even remember the first time I had lasagna. I grew up in a meat and potatoes home in the Midwest...not much experience with any other types of food. We did occasionally order pizza, or my older brother would make the boxed Chef Boyardee pizza mix.....or, when he started working at a local pizza place, would bring home dough, sauce and other ingredients and he would make pizza for us. He had even learned to toss the dough...I was impressed...of course, I was quite young at the time and impressed easily. We also had spaghetti, either canned Franco American or the boxed Kraft Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, in the red box. As you can see, my ethnic food experience was basically, non existent. I was probably in my 20's when I first had lasagna and I imagine I probably had it at Pizza Hut. Actually, while I was in my 20's, I also started eating Mexican and Chinese as well. 

Detour over....back to lasagna....My lasagna recipe started out with one that I found in Betty Crocker's International Cookbook, published sometime in the 80's. The recipe from that cookbook served me well for many years, then I started tinkering with it…combining different ideas and techniques that I picked up from other recipes or articles that I’ve read or what I’ve seen on cooking shows, so it has changed a good bit over time and now barely resembles the original.

Before I started on the lasagna, I typed up what I hoped was the final draft of my recipe and since my computer isn’t hooked up to Michael’s printer, I emailed it to him and asked him to print it off for me. I wanted a hard copy so I could make notes or corrections, if needed. As I was reading over the printed recipe, I came across a sentence that I didn't remember typing….apparently there are gremlins at work here…..“Serve to Michael, but stay out of his way, as he stampedes to consume the whole pan!!!!!!!” Funny guy!

Mix 1/4 cup white wine with sausage. I read somewhere that this will keep the sausage from cooking up into lumps.

Saute onions in olive oil.

Saute red pepper flakes and garlic.

Add sausage and brown. Adding the wine to the sausage did keep it from cooking up into lumps....in the past it almost looked like I had little meatballs in my sauce.

Stir in tomatoes, parsley, sugar, salt, basil, oregano and pepper. Cover and simmer for at leat 20 minutes.

Combine eggs, ricotta, 3 cups mozzarella and Parmesan.

Spread sauce in bottom of pan.

Place four lasagna noodles over the sauce, slightly overlapping.

Spread half of the cheese mixture over the noodles. 

Cover with 1 1/2 cups sauce.  Repeat layers.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake according to instructions, let rest and enjoy.

Michael  "the takeout king" thought I was going to entirely too much trouble to make lasagna...he thinks Stouffers makes a good one. Once he tasted it, he did change his mind....he exclaimed that, "It was the best lasagna I've ever eaten." I'm not sure if he really believes that or is afraid if he doesn't say it that I'll stop cooking.....

Print Italian Sausage Lasagna Recipe