A leaner take on Grandma's tuna casserole

Nicolle Carfagnini of Palatine wrote: "I made the mac and cheese recipe two weeks ago, and it was phenomenal!"

Thank you, Nicolle.

The love for mac and cheese knows few demographic boundaries -- nearly everyone places it near the top of their favorite comfort food's list. (Get the recipe at www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=127534.)

Nicolle's then asked if I had a recipe for a low-fat tuna noodle casserole. Boy do I!

Nicolle struck a personal comfort-food chord: Tuna noodle casserole's been a favorite since I was a kid. My grandmother, Edna Haynes, made a dandy version with sour cream in the sauce and crumbled potato chips for a crust. Yum!

I remember some 30 years ago when Grandmother Haynes let her me help with her tasty casserole. I watched carefully, pitched-in where I could and took notes. Her measurements were less than precise, guided by experiential sureness rather than a specific formula.

For decades, I've made my version of her casserole, recording my measurements as I tweaked her recipe to my increasingly sophisticated palate.

I omitted any topping (and the guilty pleasure of crushed potato chips), as well as skipped the baking and made a one-pan, stovetop, stir-together tuna noodle casserole. It took far less time and tasted pretty good. It seemed like a fair trade.

I tweaked her recipe in other ways. For many years I put canned cream of mushroom soup with added canned mushrooms in my casserole. When a healthier (less fat) cream of mushroom soup appeared in my supermarket I switched. Today I make my own flour-thickened, no-cream-added sauce with sautéed fresh shiitake mushrooms (a variety completely unknown to my grandmother).

Baking a casserole truly enhances its overall flavor, and now I believe it's well worth the added time. Instead of her high-fat, high-calorie potato chip crust, I use a fresh whole-wheat breadcrumb and shredded imported parmesan cheese mixture to top my casserole.

Grandma used oil-packed tuna; I use water-packed (fewer calories and way less fat) and frequently use the new tuna in pouches (another product that came after her era).

Yet two things have remained in my tuna noodle casserole: sour cream and baby peas. Grandma Haynes used a full-fat, thick sour cream in her casserole, but for me that's way too much fat. I've switched to a fat-free sour cream, and although it doesn't have the same rich flavor characteristics, it still does good things for my casserole and my waistline. Canned peas have given way to frozen baby peas, since they end up a brighter green in color, with a bigger flavor, and they contribute far less salt.

How does my casserole compare? Grandma Haynes wouldn't recognize her casserole with all the alterations I've made, but I'm confident she'd like it as much, maybe even more.

Hope you like it too.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

4 slices good-quality, firm whole wheat bread

5 teaspoons olive oil, divided

½ cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 celery ribs, strings removed and chopped

½ teaspoon celery salt

½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

12-16 ounces fresh shitake mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed and sliced

8 ounces uncooked, medium-wide, no-yolk egg noodles

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups lower-sodium, fat-free chicken broth

1 cup 1-percent milk

½ cup nonfat sour cream

½ cup 1-percent cottage cheese

3 cans (6 ounces each) chunk light or white water-packed tuna, well-drained, or 2 pouches (7 ounces each) light or white tuna

1 cup frozen baby peas

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish or baking pan with nonstick spray.

Coarsely chop bread slices, add to a food processor and process into crumbs. Remove and set aside.

At this point, you can use the processor for the garlic, onions and celery as well as the mushrooms if your processor can slice.

Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to a large non-stick skillet and place over medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add onion, garlic, celery, celery salt and pepper and sauté until vegetables begin to soften. Add mushrooms and sauté until they throw off most of their liquid, about 7 to 8 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, bring a pot two-thirds filled with cold water to a boil, add 1 teaspoon table salt and noodles and cook according to package directions; drain well, do not rinse.

While noodles cook, add remaining 3 teaspoons olive oil to a 6-quart saucepan and place over medium heat. When hot, add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, or until just starting to color. Whisk in broth, milk, sour cream and cottage cheese until combined. Stir in vegetables and accumulated liquid, tuna and peas. Stir in drained noodles. Remove from heat.

Spoon noodle mixture into prepared casserole, smooth out the top, sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs and cheese. Bake 45 minutes or until bubbly and the breadcrumbs start to brown. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack; let it sit for 5 minutes and serve.

Serves eight.

Nutrition values per serving: 360 calories (15.3 percent from fat), 6.1 g fat (1.9 g saturated), 45.4 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g fiber, 28.8 g protein, 26 mg cholesterol, 656 mg sodium.

SaltSense: The sodium from the canned tuna contributes over 30 percent of the sodium to this casserole. Using no-salt canned tuna reduces the sodium per serving to 479 milligrams.