Tuna Broccoli Casserole

Tuna Broccoli Casserole

This is good, quick, cheap, makes a lot, and, if you substitute gluten-free soup for regular and go with the brown rice pasta, it's gluten-free.

• 8 oz. uncooked brown rice shell macaroni (or any macaroni you like if gluten is not a concern)
• 2 12-oz. packages frozen broccoli-cauliflower mix 
• 2 12-oz. cans tuna in water, drained
• 2 10-oz. cans Campbell's Heart Healthy Cream of Mushroom Soup OR 1 can ready-to-eat Progresso Gluten-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 3 tsp. McCormick's Perfect Pinch Vegetable seasoning (you may need more if using the Progresso soup, and if you're watching your salt, any Mrs. Dash seasoning you like is fine)
• 2 cups shredded cheese (can be any kind you like -- I use Velveeta because the Mister likes it)
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.  (Don't you dare tell me you don't know what "al dente" means.  Look it up.)  Steam broccoli-cauliflower mix in microwave according to package directions.   In a 5-quart casserole, combine rinsed and cooled pasta, tuna, broccoli-cauliflower mix, soup, all but a handful of the shredded cheese, and 3/4 C. of the Parmesan; sprinkle with a bit more of your seasoning.  Bake at 350F for 50 minutes, top with remaining cheeses and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.  And that's it.   Serves at least 4 very hungry people.

Cecilia Theresa Philomena Kelly-Bredenbeck's Marinara Sauce (we were good 'til we got to the Kelly-Bredenbeck, no? )

(Photo credit:  Lori  Lange) 

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 lg. or 2 small cans tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
1 chopped onion
inner stalks and leaves of one bunch celery
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. thyme
fresh rosemary leaves if you have it, a scant handful chopped up
2 T olive oil

Crush garlic cloves and saute with onion in olive oil in bottom of a 5-quart to 8-quart pan. Add celery and saute a little more, add tomatoes and tomato paste, stir in herbs. Simmer for AT LEAST 6-8 hours, either on the stove while stirring frequently, or in a crockpot set on "high" for 6 hours and "low" for the rest of the cooking time. (You can even skip the "high" setting and just simmer this on "low" overnight if you like. The idea is to cook it for a LONG time but not at a high temperature.)

You can change this up according to what you have in the house. Want to make more?  Throw in another can or two of crushed tomatoes. If you don't like celery in there, fine. If you want to throw in some fennel seed, fine. If you're out of sage, what the hell is wrong with you? Just kidding -- if you're out of sage, that's fine. If there's any herb on the list you don't like, leave it out. If there's one you don't have, don't worry. It's all according to your taste. If you're out of olive oil, you'll want to kill the no-good who decided to put it where you can't find it, because you always have olive oil, right? RIGHT? Who doesn't have good olive oil in the house? Oh, my God! What kind of cook doesn't have olive oil?

You can brown a pound of whatever meat you have (beef, turkey, chicken) and add that, or you can add MorningStar Farms Crumbles. You can also add a pound of browned Italian sausage, hot or mild.

In fact, once you have the bare bones of it made, add whatever you like. This is a good base sauce, and you can build it into a fairly respectable puttanesca, arrabiatta, or whatever else you like. I like to serve it over angel hair (cappellini) cooked al dente, but it's good with anything else, too. Throw in some clams and serve it over linguini; what do I care?  Do I look like I care?  Go ahead -- spoil this beautiful sauce by putting it over linguini, after I took the trouble to write out the recipe!  Pheh!  (Just kidding --  just enjoy it -- that's the important part!)