Tuna Pasta Casserole

Tuna noodle casserole was one of those meals I remember enjoying in my childhood, but now it has to be gluten free.  I start with my Gluten-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup as the sauce base, and build from there.

Ingredients

• 1 box (10 oz) gluten-free pasta
• 1 cup frozen peas
• gluten-free bread crumbs and/or grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Gluten-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe (modified with following extra ingredients)
  • 1/2 cup milk or cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cans tuna*, 5 oz each
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1/2 green pepper

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Begin by sauteing the diced onions and peppers until soft, and then include these as part of the cream of mushroom soup base.  Also, make the following modifications to the mushroom soup recipe:

• Add 1/2 extra cup of either milk or cream
• Add 1/4 extra teaspoon salt
• drain the two cans of tuna and add directly to the sauce

2. Cook the gluten-free pasta according to package directions.  I wait until the pasta is just a couple minutes from done according to its “official” cook time and then toss in the frozen peas.  Let the liquid return to a boil and cook a little longer.  If you don’t want to do that, you can prepare the peas separately according to package instructions.

3. Drain the pasta and peas, mix with the mushroom sauce, and spread the entire mixture evenly in a sprayed 9×13 baking dish.

4. At this point, if I have a couple spare slices of gluten-free bread, I’ll grind them up in a food processor and mix them with some Parmesan cheese (and maybe a little salt & pepper), and then spread them evenly across the top of the casserole.  If I don’t have bread crumbs, I sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the top.

Put the casserole in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

*  Use either white or light tuna; white tuna will result in a casserole which has a less “fishy” taste.