the friday feed: holy mackerel! {march 10, 2023}

Holy mackerel! What's for dinner on a rainy, windy, icky Friday night and your husband asks for tuna noodle casserole and you don't have any tuna in the house and neither of us was willing to go to the grocery store? Cleaned out some things from the pantry and fridge and voila! Mackerel noodle casserole with the bottom-of-the bag crumbs from one of the last Dayton-made bags of Mikesell's potato chips.

Definitely belly-filling comfort food with its high carb content and cheesiness. We laughed at childhood memories of turning up noses with the combination of tuna and peas and our moms saying "You're not leaving the table until your plate is clean!"

Tuna Noodle Casserole (Mackerel Noodle Casserole)

(From The Cozy Cook)

Ingredients

3 cups dry egg noodles, about 4 cups cooked

2 chicken bouillon cubes, optional

8 oz. shredded white cheddar cheese (1 pkg. of shredded Mexican blend cheese)

2 T. butter

1 rib celery, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans solid white albacore tuna in water, drained (5 oz. per can) (2 cans mackerel in oil, drained)

1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. celery salt

1/4 t. pepper
1-10.5 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 c. half and half (1 c. 2% milk)
1/2 c. sour cream (1 c. Greek yogurt)

1 c. frozen peas (no peas)
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded

Casserole Topping

1 cup Ritz crackers, crushed (potato chips)

2 T. butter, melted (no butter: the chips were greasy enough)

Optional Garnish

3 green onions, diced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Shred the cheese and set aside to allow it to come to room temperature.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onions and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.

Decrease heat to low. Add the drained tuna, salt/pepper, celery salt, cream of mushroom soup, half and half, and sour cream. Stir until combined. Gradually sprinkle in the White cheddar and stir until well-combined and smooth.

Cook the egg noodles 1 minute shy of what the package instructs. Add 2 bouillon cubes to the boiling water to enhance the flavor of the egg noodles, if desired.

Add the peas and drained egg noodles to the cream sauce and use a silicone spatula to gently stir until combined.

If not using an oven safe skillet, transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Top with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

Combine the Ritz crackers and melted butter and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake uncovered for 5-7 minutes, until the top is brown and crisp.

Garnish with diced green onions and serve.