Tuna Noodle Casserole

Yes, I did say tuna noodle casserole. Stop making that face.

I don't mean one of those icky things where the first ingredient is "open a can of cream of mushroom soup," I mean a good, hearty middle of the week, get the family fed with good food meal. The only pre-packaged food used is two cans of good tuna and a package of egg noodles. So, like I said, stop making that face. It might stick that way.

Anyway, the ingredients are simple:

• 6 cups miripoix, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms
• Unsalted butter
• NACL
• Pepper
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 2 cans water packed tuna (best quality available)
• 2-3 cups bread crumbs
• 5 cups montegro cheese (You can use parmesan if you are not allergic to cow-dairy. I write what works for me.)
• 1 cup fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil, oregano, chives and dill would all work well here.)
• 1 package of large egg noodles
• 1 large bowl of ice H2O
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease your largest casserole.

Bring a large pot of H2O to a boil for the pasta. Add the pasta to the pot and cook for four minutes only. Pasta should be quite al-dente and not fully cooked. Drain and transfer pasta to ice bath to stop the cooking process.

While the water is coming to a boil, saute the miripoix in butter until it is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and the mushrooms, cook for a few minutes and season to taste.

Turn vegetables, pasta, herbs, broth and tuna into large bowl. Mix well.

Add 3 cups of cheese and enough bread crumbs to mix until thick. Add bread crumbs until no longer "wet."

Turn mixture into large casserole and top with remainder of cheese. Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes and enjoy!