There’s something special about Tuna & Noodles. I’m not sure what but it’s been a go-to meal for my various adventures for as long as I can remember. The ingredients are easy to keep, prep and cook. I’ve created a half dozen different ways to prepare it while backpacking. Decades ago, before I began to appreciate the value of whole foods, I remember using canned soups and dried pasta. That’s probably still the most common ingredients when you do a recipe search on the WWW. I thought I would have a go at it without using any processed stuff.
Sourdough is another passion of mine. I like to think that the wild wee beasties, (yeast) that breakdown the starches and proteins in the flour make bread healthier. The truth is, it does but sadly it’s even more addictive than regular old white bread and has just as many calories. Discipline is required, so I don’t eat the whole damn loaf in one sitting. The secret of sourdough is fermentation. It’s also the problem with sourdough. Fermentation takes time and everyone moves too fast these days. Not everyone appreciates the fine art of slowing down, like we do at 3MPH – “The Speed of Life.” It may be easier to buy a loaf of bread at the local bakery but I don’t have one. And even if I did I would probably still bake my own. I love the creative process.
Keeping a sourdough starter around is a little like keeping a cat. It needs a little love, care and feeding once in awhile. I’ve been caring for some for a couple years now. I keep them in the fridge and feed them every week or so. I got busy once, away from the cottage and wasn’t able to feed them for a couple months and thought that I’d killed them for sure. I babied and pampered them for a week though and they came back to life, stronger than ever.
So even if I am not making a big artisan loaf of sourdough rye, I still need to feed the starters often enough to keep them happy. So I like to make things with the starter I cull. Usually pizza but awhile back I discovered sourdough egg noodles and after making a couple big pots of chicken and noodles, I fell in love with the fat, puffy sourdough noodles. So this morning, the idea came to me to make a Tuna Noodle Casserole using some magic noodles. Since I haven’t done a recipe post for awhile, I decided to capture the adventure.
I only did a rough check on nutrition. Somewhere around 300 calories per serving. It was really good though so I knocked back about 3 servings which was overdoing it a bit but like I said at the top, there’s something special about Tuna Noodles. Still 20% less calories than a Big Mac meal and much healthier as well as tastier.
Sourdough Tuna Noodle Casserole
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
Sourdough Noodles
- ½ cup starter
- 1 ½ cup Flour
- 2 eggs
Filling
- Sourdough Noodles
- 2 cans Albcore Tuna drained
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 4 oz mushrooms sliced
Roux / Sauce
- ⅓ cup Coconut Oil – MCT
- 1 large onion chopped fine
- 2 stalks celery chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic chopped fine
- ⅓ cup Cassava Flour
- 1 cup veggie broth
- 2 cup Plant Milk Almond, Coconut, Macadamia or Oat
Seasoning
- 1 tsp Basil dry
- 1 tsp Thyme dry
- Himalyan Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Topping
- ⅓ cup Almonds chopped fine
- ⅓ cup sourdough breadcrumbs chopped fine
- ⅓ cup Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Mix the Sourdough starter with One and a half cups flour and two eggs. Add a little flour or water to get the correct consistency in the dough if it's not right. I used one cup all purpose and 1/2 cup dark rye flour. Whole Wheat would be good too but I did not have any on hand. Let the dough ferment a good long time. I usually mix it in the morning and let it ferment for about 3 hours and then punch it down. If it is a little wet, I add a little flour to make the yeast happy, nead it a bit and let it rise again for an hour or so.
- Flour the surface and the dough real good and roll it out and cut it into noodles with a pizza cutter. Toss and let dry on the counter until it is time to prepare the dish. I cut them into 3 inch lengths this time. This is the first time I have used them in a casserole – we'll see.
- Start a pot of noodle water to boil when you're ready to create dinner. I usually add a pinch of salt for good luck. A watched pot never boils, so leave it to it's business and get on with whipping up the secret sauce. Preheat the oven to 350°
- The secret sauce. Campbell's soup just doesn't cut it folks. I understand convenience but there is just nothing in that can that is worth it. Make your own. I like to use a big cast iron dutch oven that I can cook it all up on the stove top and then put the whole thing in the oven. Saute the onions, garlic and celery in the oil for 5-8 minutes until tender and translucent.
- Add the flour a little at a time stirring continuously until the flour begins to darken a bit and then add the broth a little at a time to maintain heat. Add the milk the same way.
- Add the mushrooms and maintain heat to keep a nice burble going. Add the tuna. We are looking for a nice smooth, thick consistency. The chunky sourdough noodles are going to thicken it up though, so don't get it too thick. Add a little milk if you want it thinner or a little Arrow Root powder if you want it thicker. When it looks, oh so right, drop the temp to low and wait for the noodles.
- When the noodle water comes to a boil, add the noodles a handful at a time to maintain heat. Once all the noodles are in, they will take about 5 minutes or so depending on how chunky they are. With about two minutes to go add the broccoli to the pot.
- When the broccoli and noodles are done, pour off the water through a colander and stir them into the secret sauce in the dutch oven. Stir in the seasonings and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix the almonds, cheese and bread crumbs together and sprinkle over the top.
- Cover the dutch oven and cook covered for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and cook for another 25 minutes. Let it cool with the lid on for about 10 – 15 minutes and enjoy.
Hello. impressive job. I did not imagine this. This is a splendid story. Thanks!