Tuna Noodle Casserole

I just wanted to use up some celery.

You know how you pick up some celery at the store, maybe using a couple ribs for some soup or stuffing…and then the rest just sits there, slowly wilting in the crisper, dying a long, sad, silent death. I’m not the type to just munch on raw celery. I don’t even really like celery unless it’s cooked and hidden in something. Or raw but covered with peanut butter and raisins. Then I can be coerced.

Since food is a terrible thing to waste, I tried to think of ways to using up the celery. A challenge, to be sure. Stir fry? Still too crunchy and raw tasting for me. Waldorf salad? Ummm, no. Cooked up with carrots and onions and slipped into spaghetti sauce? I guess maybe, but spaghetti sauce feels like an easy out.

Flipping through that gorgeous green Gourmet Today, I noticed something surprising: a recipe for tuna noodle casserole. That’s so 1962, I love it. The recipe called for mushrooms, but I thought this could be a good place for celery instead. Perfect! One little problem: my husband claims not to like tuna.

So here we are. I don’t like celery. He doesn’t like tuna. So I’m going to make a massive pan of tuna noodle casserole with celery so we can both disgruntled about dinner, apparently.

Joy.


But somehow, the creamy sauce, egg noodles and crispy topping worked their magic, and we ended up eating half the pan for dinner, the other half making awesome lunch leftovers. I don’t even know why I bother with plates sometimes; I should just set out the pan with a couple forks. Two fewer dishes to wash. Or hey, just go trough-style. Then no need to wash the forks either!


Ben has the right idea.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 Tbls. butter
About 6 ribs celery, sliced
3 tsp. soy sauce
1/3 c. sherry
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3 c. pheasant stock (or canned chicken broth)
1 and 1/2 c. whole milk
3 tsp. lemon juice
Two 5-oz. cans tuna, drained
9 oz. egg noodles (usually come in 12 oz. bag - use most of the bag)
3/4 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed (about 1 to 1 and 1/2 c. of crumbs)
1/4 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbls. vegetable oil

Butter a glass 9x13" dish. Set aside.

Cook noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Melt butter in large heavy skillet over moderate heat. Add onion and celery with pinch of salt and cook until softened, about 5 mins. Add soy sauce and sherry and boil, stirring occasionally until evaporated. Scrape veggies out of pot onto a separate plate and set aside.

Melt remaining butter in the pot over moderate heat. Add flour and cook, whisking, for 3 mins to make a roux (a browned butter-flour paste that acts as a thickener). Add stock in a steady stream, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil, whisking. Whisk in milk, reduce heat, and simmer, whisking frequently, for 5 mins.

Stir in celery/onion mixture, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp. salt into sauce. Flake tuna into sauce and stir gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Add cooked noodles and stir gently to combine. Pour mixture into buttered dish and spread evenly.

Toss together cracker crumbs and cheese. Drizzle mixture with oil and toss again. Sprinkle evenly over casserole. Bake at 375 degrees until topping is crisp and sauce is bubbling, 20-30 mins.