Creamy Tuna Bake

This creamy tuna bake is delicious and filling and as an added bonus it can be made using ingredients that are easy to find, keep on hand and are cheap. With the cost of food increasing, this is a great recipe to have on rotation.

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Creamy Tuna Bake

Course: Main Course

Keyword: Diabetes Friendly, Heart Healthy, High Calcium

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 kg frozen mixed vegetables
• 425 g canned tuna, drained
• 375 g pasta, I used spirals
• 4 cups milk
• 3 tbsp margarine or butter
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp vegetable stock powder
• 1.5 tsp mustard powder or, substitute for 1.5 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 cup grated cheese, use your favourite or combine a few eg. mozzarella, cheddar
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
• Cook the pasta and frozen vegetables according to packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse under cold water.

  Note: I did this in two stages, cooking the pasta first, then refilling and boiling water in the same pot to cook the vegetables.
• Meanwhile, make the creamy sauce by heating a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the margarine and allow to melt.
• Add the flour and stir until combined with the melted butter. Using a whisk, gradually pour in 1 cup of the milk and stir constantly until the milk is combined with the butter and flour mixture.
• Add the remainder of the milk, vegetable stock and mustard and continue whisking. As the milk starts to heat the sauce will thicken. Make sure to whisk constantly to avoid sauce becoming stuck on the bottom of the saucepan.
• Once the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and stir through the parmesan cheese and 1/2 of the grated cheese.

  Tip: the sauce is thick enough when the sauce sticks to the back of a spoon and you can draw a line through the sauce without it filling back in.
• Combine the pasta, tuna, vegetables and sauce in a large dish and stir well to combine.
• Transfer to a large baking tray and sprinkle the remainder of the grated cheese over the top.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted and golden.

Notes

I 100% believe that it is worth using full cream milk in this recipe as I believe it does make this meal even tastier.

If you are wanting to save time you could always skip making your own sauce and use your favourite pre-made pasta sauce, a creamy or a tomato based sauce would work well here.