Lighter Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole

By gvcathy

Ingredients

• 12 oz. dry pasta, shape of your choice (I used large macaroni)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 3 med carrots, peeled and diced ( or one cup frozen cut carrots)
• 2 cups sliced, raw button mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 6 TBS unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup + 2 TBS all purpose flour
• 4 cups skim or 1% milk
• 1 cup low sodium, nonfat chicken broth
• 1 tsp. kosher salt ( or more or less to your liking)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 cup of shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 2-5 oz. cans of albacore tuna packed in no liquid or in water, drained, and flaked apart
• 15 buttery-type crackers, crushed

Details

Servings 10
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from us-mg5.mail.yahoo.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions but one or two minutes less than the package calls for. Drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Soften up the vegetables: While pasta is cooking, in a large nonstick skillet sprayed with misto olive oil or cooking spray, over medium-high heat, saute the onion, celery, and carrots (if using raw) for about 5 minutes to soften them. Add in the garlic. Continue to cook for about a minute or two, until garlic becomes fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and continue to cook vegetables until they are all soft. Add in frozen peas and thyme. ( add in frozen carrots now if using frozen) Take off heat and set aside.
Make the sauce: In the same pan you cooked the pasta in, melt the butter on med-high heat.
3. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk. Cook for one minute while whisking. Slowly pour in the milk while continuing to whisk. Add in the chicken broth. Continue to cook and stir until it begins to thicken. Cook one more minute. Take off heat. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the Dijon mustard, cheese, and tuna.

4. Assemble the casserole: Spray a 13" x 9" baking pan with cooking spray. Add the reserved cooked pasta and the reserved softened vegetables to the sauce. Stir to combine. Pour into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with crushed crackers.

5. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 1- 13"x 9" pan with 10 servings