David Herskovits shares his crowd-pleasing Tuna Casserole recipe, a comfortable homey dish with a crunchy topping of potato chips. It presents beautifully for a holiday table but it’s also simple enough for a cozy family dinner.
David’s Tuna Casserole
The idea here is to use stuff you can buy at the supermarket and use easily. I salt and pepper liberally, at every stage along the way. I also always eyeball quantities. I look at my baking dish; I think about how many people I have; I ask myself, how many peas and onion and pasta and tuna can a human eat? All these amounts are variable. After each quantity in this recipe imagine me saying “or a bit more if it feels right.” Like that.
Chop a large onion and sauté it gently in butter. After the onion is soft, dump a bag of frozen peas in the pan and keep stirring for a few minutes so the peas warm up and some of the water evaporates. You might need (or want) to add butter. Why not? Dust it all with a bit of flour and stir together so the butter absorbs the flour.
Take a box of large pasta shells, or as many as you want depending on how big your casserole is; boil them in salted water for about ten minutes (proudly al dente) and drain them.
In a big bowl, mix the shells and several cans of tuna in olive oil. I use the best quality fish and oil I see on the supermarket shelf, and I add as much as looks good to me, definitely three or four regular size cans. Also mix in: the onion and peas from the pan; a bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (“How much is a bag?” you ask…Trust yourself!), plenty of salt and pepper, and a generous amount of heavy cream—definitely a half pint but if you have more pasta it could take more. Mix it up to integrate well.
Spread this in your casserole. Top with grated parmesan and crushed up potato chips — use ones you love; I use thick chips, usually salt and pepper style, and I crush them in the bag.
I bake at 425 for about 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. You can hold the dish covered in the fridge, until you are ready to bake it. It is the kind of dish that reheats beautifully too.
Enjoy! — David
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