Mom’s tuna noodle casserole

From the Midwest:

I have been cooking my mother’s tuna noodle casserole for years but have made some changes over the years (not that her’s was not great). I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients (serves 8):

• 10 tablespoons – butter
• ½ cup – all purpose flour
• 4 ½ cups – whole milk (make sure it is whole milk)
• 8 ounces – button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup – green onions, chopped (about one bunch)
• 3 – celery stalks, chopped
• 2 tablespoons – fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons – fresh thyme
• 1 pound – egg noodles
• 2 12 ¼-ounce cans – tuna in water (drained)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounces – parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup – Italian seasoned bread crumbs (I like Vigo crumbs with Romano cheese)

Preparation:

Place 8 tablespoons of the butter in a sauce pan and melt over medium heat. Add the flour and stir for 2 minutes. Next, whisk the milk in slowly and stir for about 5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Set aside.

Butter sauce

In a frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms, onions and celery. Cook until most of the water is gone from the mushrooms, about 10 minutes.

Mushrooms, onions, and celery

Add the rosemary and thyme and cook an additional minute. Place the mushroom mixture into the milk sauce and stir to mix.

Butter sauce with mushroom mixture

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the noodles in salted boiling water until done and drain well. Grease (with butter) a baking dish (I use a 11 x 15 x 3 inch dish). Place tuna in the pan you cooked the noodles, and break it up into pieces. Mix the sauce and noodles with the tuna thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour evenly into the buttered baking dish. Add the cheese followed by the breadcrumbs evenly on the top of the noodle mixture. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes (make sure that the breadcrumbs do not burn). Bon appétit.

Baked tuna casserole

Voila!

J. Botticelli