This is not a fancy dish to serve, but it is very tasty, nutritious and makes plenty of servings. I made two casserole dishes. I topped the casseroles with Panko crumbs. These crumbs are a Japanese style bread crumb, made with wheat, not rice as you would expect. They are as light as a feather and very crispy. Perfect to top off any macaroni and cheese dish or any oven casserole. If you haven’t tried them, you should. I made this recipe at the beginning of March and cooked the whole thing on top of our wood stove. I just popped it in the oven to crisp and brown the panko crumb topping. You can freeze extras very easily. It is a great dish to take to work for your lunch. Enjoy a great week!

INGREDIENTS:

4 ribs of celery

1 large Spanish onion or 3 yellow onions

1 sweet red pepper (remove the seeds)

3 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

4 tbsp. olive oil

3 cups uncooked macaroni elbows (you want to have about 6 to 7 cups of cooked pasta)

3 – 6 oz. cans of flaked tuna in water, drained

2 – 10 oz cans of Campbell’s condensed, cream of mushroom soup

2 tbsp. Madras curry powder (we carry this at Sharyn’s Pantry)

pasta cooking water

2 cups (approximately) Panko crumbs  The amount you use will depend on the size of the casserole dish you choose.)(we carry the Panko crumbs at Sharyn’s Pantry)

METHOD:

-Boil the macaroni elbows in a large potful of boiling salted water. Cook them al dente as they will be added to the casserole and cook a few minutes longer in you oven while the Panko crumbs are browning. When you drain the cooked macaroni, keep a couple of cups of the cooking liquid to thin out the casserole when combining all of the ingredients.

-Dice the celery, onions and red  pepper.

-Add the 4 tbsp. of olive oil into a large frying pan. Add the diced celery, onions and red pepper. Saute this until softened. Place them in a large bowl.

-Add to them the parsley, curry powder, drained tuna and condensed cream of mushroom soup. Mix well to combine.

-Once the macaroni is cooked, drain it, reserving some of the liquid,and add the drained pasta into the tuna mixture. Stir to combine.

-You be the judge how much pasta water you will add into the tuna macaroni mixture. You don’t want it too thick or too thin. Just to have a soft, light mixture. Not runny either.

-Grease a couple of casserole dishes with No-stick cooking spray.

-Pour the mixture into the baking dishes. I like to use shallow baking dishes, this way you get more crispy topping once baked.

-Sprinkle the Panko crumbs evenly over top of the casseroles. You can drizzle a little olive oil over top of the Panko crumbs if you wish. This will aid in the browning.

-Bake them in a pre-heated 350 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes until crispy and golden.

-I served this with steamed broccoli and my pureed garden squash. Yummy! ENJOY!