Wednesdays Unplugged – Crunchy Tuna Hot Dish

“When you judge another, you do not define them. You define yourself.” ~ Wayne Dyer

NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. It’s my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian ‘Quote Cup’ passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, along with an update and photos of what has been going on in our lives. I love trying new recipes…and love getting recipes you would like to share!

It was a beautiful week… our grandson’s football game actually started above 60 degrees last Friday! The photo above was from the week before when he started the game with a catch to score a touchdown… it was featured in the local Sun Sailor.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

What can I say except that I craved tuna hot dish, and wanted it without any ‘cream of…’ soup. This recipe from Delish was good but I was disappointed in the quality of the only can of tuna packed in oil I could find and it tainted the taste of the hot dish for me. Next time I will buy the best tuna I can find even if it is packed in water and use olive oil for the oil to be reserved from the tuna. Be sure to season generously with salt and pepper.

CRISPY TUNA HOT DISH

• 1 pound bow tie pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 ounce canned white tuna packed in oil – drain, flake and reserve 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons flour
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for serving if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium pot over medium heat, melt butter and cook onion until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons reserved oil from tuna, flour, salt and pepper and stir until flour turns golden, about 3 minutes.

Add wine and stir until smooth, then add chicken stock and continuously stir until incorporated. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until sauce begins to thicken, 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, frozen peas, tomato, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tuna.

In a small bowl, stir together panko, olive oil and parsley. Put pasta mixture in a large baking dish, and top with remaining cup of mozzarella and bread crumb mixture. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Bake until golden and bubbly, about 20 minutes.