Tuna Noodle Casserole; spring planting
This is a pantry dish.
It does not have canned condensed soup.
One can make pantry meals without using canned soup or box mixes of stuff.
It’s actually cheaper, not to mention healthier, to skip all the ready-made processed stuff.
Considering that we, as well as a good portion of the rest of the world, are on lock-down at the moment, having easy to make meals using ingredients that store well is practical…. Fewer trips to the stores.
Technically, this would be a pantry and fridge dish, as it uses Greek yogurt and cheese, both of which will keep a few weeks in the fridge.
We did a separate vegetable but you could toss in 1 or 2 cups of canned white beans or a cup of frozen peas to make it a one-dish dinner.
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PrintTuna Noodle Casserole

This is quickly made using pantry and fridge ingredients. Serve a veg on the side or toss one in the mix.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Gratin
Ingredients
- 10oz (300gr) canned tuna, net weight, drained, broken apart
- 6oz (180gr) canned red pepper or pimiento, net weight, drained, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped green olives
- 2 medium shallots, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 3/4 cup (6oz, 180ml) chicken stock
- 3/4 cup (6oz, 180ml) white wine
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120gr) Greek yogurt
- 1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
- 1 1/2 tbs maizena (cornstarch) dissolved in 2 tbs water
- 1 1/4 cups (4oz, 120gr) egg noodles
- 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) shredded cheese
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package directions. When done, drain.
- While pasta cooks: heat oil in large skillet.
- Add shallots and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in mustard, chicken stock, white wine, and heat to boiling.
- Add maizena and stir until thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in yogurt.
- Stir in tune, pepper, and olives.
- Add noodles and stir to combine.
- Spoon into a baking dish, sprinkle with cheese, and bake 400F (200C) until hot and bubbly, 10 – 15 minutes.
- Serve
Notes
Two weights are given on jars and cans: total weight with liquid and net weight of drained ingredients.
Keywords: tuna casserole, tuna

We had a lot of excitement chez nous last weekend…. early, just after the sun came up.
Two big tractors, 1 small tractor, a wagon and three trucks drove past our house and parked at the end of our lane and on the farm track on the other side of our woods.

It was time to plant the beets.
Our farmer neighbor has been planting beet (beetroot) for the last few years, but it’s always been at the far end of his field.
He plants them early in the spring and grows them for the seed.
The way we understand it, the plants come from the north, he plants them and harvest the seeds in summer when they are ready. The seeds then go back to the north where they are planted to grow the actual vegetable.
Seems a bit convoluted to me but I’m not a farmer.
But this the is bit that has always fascinated me: the planting is done by hand. This year he’s using the field by our house so I got to watch.

The small tractor drives very slowly back and forth on the field. Two people sit on the back and stick the roots into the soil.

Another person (not in the photo) walks along behind, making sure the plants are spaced properly and in deeply enough.
Four people spent 2 days planting this field that, if it were sunflowers, would have been planted in less than an hour by one person driving the tractor.
We assume it’s a profitable crop…..
What backbreaking work for the two planters! I couldn’t do that, no matter how profitable the crop was.
Your tuna noodle casserole looks good! This is the only dish I still use canned cream soup for. Considering I only make it once every couple of years because I love it and husband does not, it is a guilty pleasure.
Then you get to eat it all yourself! We don’t have canned, cream soups lol
The planting is hard work – but at least they are not walking and bending.
Our local producer plants Charentaise melons in the same way but also covers them frost protection at the same time. A number of plants are set out at a time over a period of a few weeks with the last planting not requiring frost protection. I presume this is to extend the harvesting period. From late June through to end of August we can buy melons directly from the farm.
I love Charentaise melons – I didn’t realize they were so much work. When we live in the Vendee we bought them by the sack-full. Here, we buy them at the store for more euros….
When he harvests…does he drop over with a few beets for you ?
I haven’t been able to figure out if they are sugar beets or regular beets…. and I don’t know if he harvest the beets or just the seeds. It’s always been in a faraway field. This year I’m on top of it !