Not Your Mother’s Tuna Noodle Casserole

This recipe was an I-need-to-use-up-old-stuff-in-the-pantry creation that conveniently used up 4 of the 5 cans of tuna I had. I was very pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. Even my husband (who dislikes tuna) and my 4 year old (who dislikes pasta) ate it! Three cheers for me!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 cup port
8 oz rotini noodles, cooked
2 10 oz cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
12 oz canned tuna, packed in water,drained
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (if you don’t have fresh, canned is fine)
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Salt and pepper



DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare your noodles according to the direction on the packet.



Over a medium heat, pour the olive oil into a pan and saute the onions until tender.



Add the port and simmer until the alcohol evaporates and the remaining liquid has reduced in volume slightly.






Notice the difference between this and the previous photo – this is how much it needs to reduce.

Set the pan aside until later.

In a large bowl combine the cooked and drained noodles, condensed soup, sour cream, and mayonnaise.





Add the onions and port mixture to the noodles.



Mix in the mushrooms, peas, tuna, garlic salt, paprika, and parmesan cheese.





Season to taste with salt and pepper.



Pour the mixture into a 9×13 baking dish.



In a sealed quart size Ziploc bag, combine the cheddar, mozzarella, and breadcrumbs.



Spread the cheese and breadcrumbs evenly over top of the dish.



Bake for 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned and the corners are bubbling.



After removing the dish from the oven, allow it to sit for 5 minutes before serving.



I’m so pleased with how well this turned out for something I just made up off the top of my head. I hadn’t planned on it being good enough to share, so I didn’t even photograph it when I made it last week. I had to cook it again this week so I could get the photos to show you all!


♥