Updated April 2018
Tinned tuna is one of the tastiest and most popular budget healthy proteins. Used wisely, a tin of tuna at £1.50 a pop can make pleasing dishes that will feed 4. As an occasional treat, it's wonderful but try not to make it a habit -- over-fishing is a problem and too much tinned food is not good for the health.
The recipe uses deliciously nutty wholemeal pasta; the texture is similar and kids won't even notice. Wholemeal pasta is absorbed more slowly, preventing 'carb-doze'. It also gets the digestive system moving, keeping the bowels regular and preventing the build-up of toxins that cause bad skin and lack of energy.
The pasta can be made in advance but should not be kept in the fridge longer than 3 days, including the day the casserole has been cooked and served.
The dish freezes well. Reheat gently (steamed or boiled in a bag) with a bit of milk, extra seasoning and a few more crisps.
A word on some of the ingredients:
Condensed mushroom soup was originally used in this recipe because honestly, there was nothing else like it. But 67's home-made Mushroom Soup works very well and doesn't have preservatives or a metallic taste.
As for the crisp topping - if it offends you, use breadcrumbs or don't bother with a topping at all.
Cost: min £3.00'ish
Feeds: 4-6 with sides
Ingred:
200-250 gm/7-8 oz dried wholemeal pasta
1 tin tuna, drained
generous mug of frozen peas
5-6 mushrooms, halved and chopped coarsely
1 recipe home-made Mushroom Soup or a tin of condensed mushroom soup (low-salt)
1/3 -1/2 cup of milk
pepper & a little salt
couple of pinches of dried thyme (opt)
40 gm bag of lightly salted and/or fat-reduced crisps (opt)
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 200C, 180 fan, gas 6.
- Grease an oven-proof glass baking dish, 9" x13" or line a metal dish with greaseproof paper.
- Cook pasta according to packet instructions but if kids are eating this, 1-2 minutes more. The pasta should have some give and not be soft. During the last few minutes of cooking, add frozen peas
- Drain; add soup & milk.
- Add drained tuna, stirring to break up large chunks; then mushrooms.
- Season with pepper, salt and thyme (opt but recommended for adults); stir and pour into baking dish
- Bake in the middle of the oven 20-25 minutes or until brown and crisping at the edges
- Crush crisps in their packet, leaving some big pieces and some rubble. Ten minutes before end of cooking time, cover the casserole with the crisps.
- Serve with shredded lettuce lightly drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sliced tomatoes lightly sprayed with olive oil and lightly salted.
Tips:
- If cooking the pasta ahead, add a little oil after draining to keep the pasta from sticking.
- replace half the peas with corn
- blanched broccoli can replace peas
- you canadd more lightly steamed green veg to the casserole or serve on the side for extra vitamins, minerals and antioxidants
This recipe has been developed by B Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises. It may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.
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