Tuna Fish Casserole

By GratefulSea

This is the casserole I grew up on, and is still a family favorite. Although I replaced the Velveeta with a good cheddar many years ago, my sister admits she still adds "at least some" Velveeta. I'll issue a guilt-free pass on that one.

The amounts of everything here are really a matter of taste. Don't forget to taste while cooking, salting as necessary, so you don't end up with something bland.

Ingredients

• 12-18 oz broad egg noodles
• 16 oz of sharp cheddar
• 2 yellow onions
• 8-10 ribs celery
• Canola oil
• 3-4 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
• 6 eggs, hard boiled
• 28 oz canned tuna
• 30 cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half or quartered, depending on size

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 105mins

Preparation

Step 1

Cook the noodles according to package directions, but undercook by at least a minute since they will cook again while the casserole bakes.

While the noodles are cooking, shred half the cheese. Take half of what's left and cube it into 1/4-inch pieces. Stir the shredded and cubed cheddar into 3 cans of mushroom soup. Slice up the remaining cheese and set aside for the topping.

Drain the noodles into a large bowl, and add enough of the soup-cheese mix to prevent the noodles from sticking while the rest of the casserole ingredients are prepped.

Preheat the oven to 350º. Chop up two onions, as fine or rough as you like. Thinly slice 8-10 ribs of celery. Sauté the onions and celery in about 2 Tablespoons of Canola oil until the onions have softened. Mix them both into the soup-cheese mix.

Peel and roughly chop the hard-boiled eggs. Open and drain all the tuna; using a fork, flake the tuna into a medium bowl, then fold in the eggs. Add the tuna-egg mixture to the soup-cheese mixture.

Slice up the tomatoes and gently mix them in, then fold in the noodles. If the casserole looks or tastes too dry, add another can of cream of mushroom soup, or 1/2 to 1 cup of any kind of milk. Taste, and add salt as necessary. Put the whole thing into a large dutch oven or other casserole, and bake, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes.

Uncover the casserole and top with the remaining sliced cheese. Return it to the oven and continue to bake, uncovered, until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

This tastes even better as leftovers, thinning with a bit of milk as necessary.