/ck/ - Food & Cooking

It's quite versatile. There's the old-fashioned tuna noodle casserole, which is a filling meal that sticks to the ribs but only costs pennies. Break out the cream of mushroom soup cans and egg noodles, a bit of wooster sauce and some peas, topped with bread crumbs, and you'll stretch that tin nicely.

For tuna sandwiches, go very light on the mayo, almost an invisible coating, and toss it with diced celery and apple for a sweet crunch to offset the mealy fish, and some shredded basil and a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten it. Simple but delightful.

It goes great in all kinds of salads.

Do what I suggested for sandwiches, but swap out the basil with oregano, and replace the celery and apple with diced red onion (or vidalia). Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Spread it on thick crusty bread, top with a slice of tomato, top that with a thin slice of your favorite deli cheese (muenster, provolone, swiss, whatever). Broil until bubbly. That's a good tuna melt.

Making pasta? Toss the tuna with farfalle or penne and your favorite sauce. Cheap and easy.

Want to take the boomer casserole to the next level? Dump the canned soup goo. Instead make your own. Throw half an onion, a small tin of anchovies (or a third of the ones in the glass jar, which are better), and a (drained) can of artichoke hearts into your blender and puree the shit out of them. Then add a handful of shredded parm or similar cheese and the fluid from your tuna can. Then with the blender going, slowly add half a cup/120ml of oil until it's become a fancy runny mayonnaise. In your casserole dish, mix that into your egg noodles (or macaroni), season with wooster or just plain pepper and your favorite herbs. Cover with breadcrumbs and drizzle melted butter over the top (or just more oil if you prefer). Cover with foil, bake at 350F/175C for 45 minutes, then take the foil off and let the crumbs toast up for the rest of the hour. Let it rest another quarter hour before serving so it's not runny.