tuna casserole that will make u cry Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Directions

1. first thing u do is chop up your mushrooms into little cubes. doesn't have to be perfect. put a sautee pan over medium heat, melt ur coconut oil right in there and toss the mushrooms in. stir them around with a wooden spoon every once in a while. if you think it's a little extra to use coconut oil AND butter in one recipe, i get it. do you.
2. while those are browning, chop up the onion and garlic as small as you can, without being neurotic about it. the point is just so you don't get a mouthful of onions and garlic. toss that in with the mushrooms and add your butter. stir with the wooden spoon. if your mushrooms are getting really brown, turn down the heat. season with the garlic salt, black pepper, and cayenne.
3. at this point start boiling your water for the shells. sometimes i feel fancy and put some garlic cloves, salt, and olive oil in the pasta water. while it's getting up to a boil, cut your carrot into really small pieces and add it to your mushroom pan with the frozen peas.
4. put in the shell pasta and cook it al dente while you stir your veggie mix on low. i like shells bc you can just use a spoon to eat them, they hold the sauce really well, and they're really cute. add your drained tuna fish to the veggie mix. make sure there's no big chunks by breaking it up with your wooden spoon. add the mushroom soup to the tuna/veggie mix. stir it around.
5. if the tuna/veggie mix is too dry, add that splash of milk. it should be the consistency of a really thick pudding.
6. now stir in the table spoon of honey. i know it seems wrong. the first time i did it, i had to fight the urge to try to siphon most of it off. but you don't really taste it in the end-- it just makes it so it's not all savory/salty and kind of adds a warm quality? idk. it's a good move though.
7. drain the pasta (if you had garlic cloves in there either mash them up really good and add them back in or take them out all together), then add it to the veggie/tuna mix and incorporate. in a little casserole pan or even individual ramekins if ur the barefoot contessa ina garten, dole out equal amounts of the tuna/veggie/pasta mix.
8. cut little slices of cheddar cheese and top off the tuna/veggie/pasta mix. i like a lot of cheese.
9. take handfuls of potato chips and crumble them over the casserole(s). now put it in the oven for around 4 min, just so the cheese melts but the chips don't burn.
10. take that puppy out and sprinkle some fresh chopped chives before you serve it so it's pretty and doesn't just look like a grey cheesy gloop.
11. now ur done-- i like eating this with a small jug of $6 sangria. i chop some apricots into that, sprinkle some cinnamon and call it a day.