TUNA MORNAY PASTA BAKE
This creamy tuna mornay pasta bake is really just a jazzed up macaroni cheese – it’s the perfect comfort food. If you don’t like tuna you could switch this out for cooked bacon, chicken or chorizo.
Make sure you use a large dish for this one, or try two smaller dishes if you’re having this meal over a couple of nights. The dish shown in the photo contains only about two thirds of the mixture!
TUNA MORNAY PASTA BAKE
This creamy tuna mornay pasta bake is really just a jazzed up macaroni cheese - it’s the perfect comfort food. If you don’t like tuna you could switch this out for cooked bacon, chicken or chorizo.
Ingredients
PASTA BAKE
- 300 g pasta spirals or macaroni (10.6oz)
- 4 eggs
- 50 g butter (1.8oz)
- 1/4 cup plain flour (38g)
- 2 cups milk (500ml)
- 1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp chicken stock powder
- 1 3/4 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided (175g)
- 30 g kale (1.1oz)
- 2 spring onions
- 425 g (approx) chunky tuna in springwater (15oz)
- 400 g can creamed corn (14oz)
- 2 slices bread (any type)
SALAD
- 1/2 telegraph cucumber
- 1 spring onion
- 100 g snow peas (3.5oz)
- 100 g salad greens (3.5oz)
- 1/2 a 400g can whole corn kernels, drained (1/2 a 14 oz can)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF) fan bake.
PREPARE PASTA
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add pasta and stir. Boil for 2 minutes, then add eggs and boil for 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
MAKE SAUCE
While pasta is cooking, make sauce. Melt butter in a large, non-stick pot over a medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk. Continue to whisk until sauce has thickened. Stir in mustard, stock powder and 1 1/4 cups cheese, until cheese has melted, then take off the heat. Remove hard part of the stem from kale and chop leaves into small pieces. Thinly slice spring onions and stir into the sauce together with the kale, drained tuna and creamed corn. Pour into a large oven safe dish. Peel eggs, slice into quarters and nestle into the pasta.
Tear bread into small pieces and sprinkle over the top of the pasta together with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, until bread and cheese have turned golden brown.
MAKE SALAD
While pasta is baking, thinly slice the cucumber and spring onion. Trim any hard ends off the snow peas, place in a bowl and pour boiling water over the top. Leave 2 minutes then drain. Combine with the salad greens, cucumber, onion and corn. Make dressing by whisking together the oil, vinegar, mustard and sugar.
SERVE
Serve portions of pasta with salad on the side. Drizzle salad with dressing.
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: Try a Chardonnay or a Pinot Noir.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Use gluten-free pasta and plain or self-raising gluten-free flour. You can use a gluten-free chicken stock cube (dissolve in a little boiling water if needed). Swap the bread for gluten-free bread or breadcrumbs.
INGREDIENT SWAPS: If you don’t like tuna, you could replace with salmon or cooked bacon, chicken or chorizo. Alternatively, have it as a vegetarian meal (use vegetable stock powder instead of chicken). I’ve used kale and salad greens to optimise the shopping list for the menu this recipe is part of; however, you could replace both with baby kale or baby spinach.
STORING AND REHEATING: Keep individual portions in containers in the fridge and reheat in the microwave as required. Store salad separately and drizzle with dressing just before serving.
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