Tuna Noodle Casserole

I know, I know - tuna casserole is super common and normal and probably everyone's mom made this growing up (we ate it a lot!) and chances are you already know how to make it, but I made it for dinner and got a "that was the best tuna noodle casserole ever" from Dave so I thought I'd share how I did it. He isn't a casserole fan, but it was cold and rainy and neither of us wanted to go to the grocery store and I had the ingredients on hand...so casserole it was.

                         

I did a couple different things this time, versus the regular ol' way I would normally do it - and I will make it this way from now on! Cuz "best ever" demands the changes haha! One, I added a panko crumb mixed with melted butter topping on about 15 minutes before we were eating; two, I only had one can of cream of mushroom soup and it seemed dry so I made a little cream sauce from scratch to add moisture; and three, I sautéed some fresh mushrooms in a little butter and added them to the casserole.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box cellentani pasta (or whatever shape you want, it was good with curly noodles), boiled according to package directions - I had about 4 big cups of pasta once cooked
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 can milk
• 1 cup frozen peas (I add these to the hot pasta and water a couple minutes before draining the pasta)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I don't actually measure, just a couple handfulls)
• 1 can tuna, drained and flaked
• 1/2 cup fresh mushroom slices
• 1 Tablespoon butter

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1/4 cup milk or cream, additional water as needed for consistency
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese

• 1 cup coarse panko crumbs
• 1-2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 cup parmesan

Directions:

1. Saute the mushrooms in a little butter until browned.
2. In a small saucepan, melt 1 T. butter and stir in 1 T. flour until it's all incorporated. Keep stirring the flour for a minute or two to get rid of some of the flour taste. Slowly whisk in the milk or cream, stirring continuously until it thickens. If it's too thick add a little water to get it to the right consistency. Add 1/4 cup shredded cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper. 
3. Stir together cooked pasta, soup, milk, peas, mushrooms, 1/2 cup cheese, tuna, and the extra cream sauce, pour into casserole dish. 
4. Bake at 350' for at least 30 minutes until heated thru. Note: I like to make this earlier in the day and put it in the fridge to set up and meld the flavors before baking it. If you do that and the casserole is cold, it needs longer to bake - I did 45 minutes. 
5. About 15 minutes before you are ready to eat the casserole, stir together the panko crumbs, parmesan, and enough melted butter to coat the crumb mixture, and sprinkle it overtop of the casserole. Turn up the oven temp. to 400' for about 15 minutes.