Cheesy Tuna N Noodles

You guys. When I opened my cupboards to start dinner last night, they were bare. Well, not really...there were plenty of pantry staples and miscellaneous cans of soup and baked beans, but nothing I could make a meal of. Or so I thought.

Then I noticed I had some basic ingredients to make a dish my mom used to make a lot. She told me once that she loves casseroles because you just mix them together, throw them in the oven and move on to another task while it cooks. Can you say perfect? I'm swamped right now, so I decided to riff on her recipe to save myself some time.

I wasn't going to blog this, but I took my first bite and decided I probably should (hence the missing chunk of cheesy goodness that I tried so artfully to hide).


Ingredients:
- 1/2 box macaroni noodles (or something similar; macaroni was what I happened to have)
- 1 can tuna
- 1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup (mushrooms...ew)
- Parmesan cheese
- shredded Colby-jack or cheddar cheese (I used the former, my fave!)

This is seriously the easiest meal ever. Other than Ramen, I suppose, but I hardly count that as a meal. More of a snack, really. Anyway, this is the first dish I've made in ages--maybe ever--that didn't have any leftovers. None. That's how good this is.

Start by cooking your macaroni according to package directions. Making sure to salt the water liberally after it starts boiling, before you add the noodles. I like to overcook them a bit, because the baking tends to dry them out.

When that's done, drain and return to the pot. Drain the tuna and throw it in, along with the can of cream of chicken soup. Mix it all together. Pour in a liberal amount of Parmesan cheese. I never measure these things, but let's say about a quarter of a cup. Mix well and spread into a nonstick or greased casserole pan. Top with as much shredded cheese as your little cheesy heart desires.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, or if you want more time to do whatever miscellaneous tasks, cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. Voila! Told you it was easy. Serve with more Parm. Because you can never have enough Parm.