We all have our favorite comfort foods, and one of mine is tuna noodle casserole, that time-honored combo of noodles, tuna and peas in a creamy mushroom sauce.
In the traditional (read ’50s housewife) version of this dish, the sauce is supplied by a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. And if convenience is the No. 1 consideration, that’s the way you want to make it.
But I’ve got this thing for mushrooms. Good mushrooms. So my version of tuna noodle casserole includes a from-scratch sauce made with real mushrooms. I chop up fresh button mushrooms and flavor them with a bit of dried shiitake or porcini.
That’s as upscale as I get. This is supposed to be comfort food, after all. But you could fancy it up even more by using fresh tuna, grilled or pan-fried and cut into chunks, and tossing in some fresh herbs. As for the noodles, use the traditional egg noodles or substitute rotini, farfalle or penne.