Pasta AND Tuna.... can a dish get any tastier?

As much as I hate the idea of eating far too many large fish... I keep the odd can or two of 'dophin-friendly' (whatever that's supposed to mean) and Choice-selected 400g tins of Tuna in my cupboard for such a day as Sunday.

Sunday I worked in the garden. It was a big day.  My family watched telly and played with the dog.  I reclaimed a small parcel of land that had begun environmental warfare on my original plan.  At the end of the long day... I was buggered. (That's 'tired' in Austalian slang in case you had just arched your eyebrows considerably).

This is not quite the meal that cooks itself, but it comes close.  I once followed a recipe I had copied from our local pre-school.  I ate with the children a few times in a previous life, and really enjoyed this Tuesday and Friday lunch meal, or something close to this.  The recipe disappeared a long time ago, but the tastes remain memorable:  

So from memory, the ingredients consist of the following:

Pasta or Rice - whichever gluten or gluten-free lifestyle you and/or your family are adhering to.
400g can of tuna (drained)
400g can of any of the following SOUPS (Chicken, Cream of Chicken, Asparagus or Celery)
bunch of fresh asparagus (or a canned/drained)
1 or 2 tomatoes
1 onion

Fresh breadcrumbs & grated cheese for the topping

STEP ONE:

Cook the pasta or rice.

STEP TWO:

Turn the oven on to 180/350;

STEP THREE: 

Pull out a skillet and gently fry up the onion, asparagus and tomato - gently - just to take the crunch and sting out of the onion.  Turn it off.

STEP FOUR:

While the vegies are softening, tip the canned soup and drained tuna into a casserole dish.

STEP FIVE:

Add the vegies to the casserole dish with the soup and tuna

STEP SIX:

Add the pasta or rice to the casserole dish, fold it all together until it's mixed:  Don't have all the soup in one gluggy bit in the middle and the tuna staying in a corner on the other side of the vegetables.  So I guess I should have said, make sure your casserole dish will hold a fair whack of tuna casserole.

THE TOPPING:

Throw 2 pieces of fresh bread into a food processor and process till it look .... like breadcrumbs!  Add 1/2 to 1 cup of grated cheese.  Mix it all together, spread it out on top of the casserole.  Make it look pretty with either some paprika or chilli.  Whatever your tastebuds desire

Bake for 20 minutes covered, then another 10 minutes uncovered with the temperature up a few notches to make the topping crunchy.

Leave the casserole out of the over for 5 to 10 minutes to cool down before eating it.  Yum!  My family give this a 9/10.  The reason it's not 10 is because while I'm cooking it, everyone is convinced they're not fond of tuna... then they eat it.






Should have had a photo here of it out of the oven... hot and sumptuous.  But we ate it instead.