Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole

Ok, I am still playing catch up. I actually made this dish last Sunday night for dinner, but I still wanted to get it posted. I found this recipe online one day at work when I was bored. I will type the recipe out exactly how it was online, but I cut it in half. Personally I didn't need two full casseroles for just myself and Eric. I mean, we eat a lot, but that much food would just be ridiculous. :)

Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole
found at www.delish.com/recipes

1/3 cup olive oil (plus more for baking dishes)
--- coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound wide egg noodles
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed) (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
4 cans tuna in oil (drained)
1 can (14oz) artichoke hears (drained and thickly sliced)
5 scallions (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup grated parmesan

1). Preheat over to 400 degrees. Lightly oil tow 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles until 2 minutes short of al dente; drain and return to pot.

2). Meanwhile, in a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add bell peppers, season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 4-6 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer.

3). Remove from heat; add mixture to noodles in pot, along with tuna, artichoke, and scallions. Season with walt and pepper, and toss. Divide between prepared baking dishes, and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 minutes.


As, I said, I cut this in half... two of them would have just been WAY too much food. Also, since we couldn't find whole milk at the store, we used heavy whipping cream. I think that was the only change I made.

The casserole turned out really well. Eric and I both enjoyed it and it will probably replace the tuna-noodle casserole I used to make (which was more or less cream of mushroom soup, tuna and noodles). The crisp peppers and scallions added a nice texture and made it much more interesting to eat. The artichoke hearts were really a nice addition and blended really well with the other flavors in the dish without being over powering.

I would totally recommend making this dish. However, on a side note, I would maybe recommend eating it fresh only. Since even cut in half the recipe made a lot of food, we did have some left overs which I ate a couple days later. The left overs were really not good. When reheated the oil separated from everything else. So it was really oily, and left me feeling really gross after I ate it. So I would say, maybe only make it if you have enough people to eat it right then, because it was very tasty fresh. :)