Twenty-minute, one pot recipe of tuna casserole, easy to make on the stove top.

Stove Top Tuna Casserole

By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime

Occasionally  I  like  to have tuna casserole. I know  it is  not for everyone,  but I like it. And apparently you do  too, or you would not be here.

One of the things about it though,  is that it’s a retro comfort  food.  So those days when I want it  most I really don’t feel like  cooking. So finding ways to make it fast and as easily as possible are a definite plus.

One pot cooking  is a also  a great thing. But  so  many recipes I see either ignore the  fact that they cook the  pasta in another pot,  or they add regular pasta  with all  that  starch to the  same  pan. But when I  saw this Pronto pasta, I thought I might try it to see how starchy it is being cooked  without draining, and it’s fine.

So from there it’s  not too much work to  make a tuna casserole, which I did with macaroni  since  Barilla doesn’t make an egg noodle version of Pronto. And I have had macaroni versions of tuna casserole before. I think  Tuna Helper has one, but I don’t recall. I  haven’t really used that one in years and years.

This gets topped with crushed Ritz crackers at the end of cooking,  although  you could also use  toasted bread crumbs  or crushed chips. I bought a box of the crackers and used it as an excuse to stir up some dips and cheese spreads. Crab dip being the first one I made since having this. And I am also working on a radish spread.

And the best  part of this is that it really does cook in 20 minutes (no waiting  for water to boil to cook pasta) as all the time is included. Working families really pay attention to that since when they get home, who really has time to make an elaborate  meal when everyone is tired and hungry? We all like fast.

Have  a blessed Good Friday and Easter Weekend as well as Passover,  whatever you celebrate,   or just enjoy the day. We  will be dodging snowflakes this weekend (again). I am so tired of winter. I’m  sure we can all relate.

~s

Stove Top Tuna Casserole

• Servings: 6
• Time: 20mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 ounce jar diced pimientos
• 12 ounce box Barilla Pronto elbow macaroni, uncooked
• 3 cups cold water
• 1 (10-1/2 ounce can) condensed cream of celery soup
• 2 (6 ounces each) cans tuna packed in water, drained
• 3/4 cup  milk
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup crushed Ritz crackers (crumbs)

Method:

1. Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet.
2. Add onion and saute until soft. 
3. Stir in the garlic, salt, black pepper, frozen peas, pimientos with liquid, entire box of uncooked pronto elbow macaroni, and three cups cold water; stir.
4. Cook on high for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid dissipates and macaroni is al-dente.
5. Turn heat to low and stir in condensed soup, drained tuna, milk, and shredded Parmesan.
6. Cover and simmer for five minutes.
7. Stir casserole and top with crushed Ritz crackers.
8. Serve hot.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com