Tuna Noodle Bake

Tried this recipe tonight for dinner and it was awesome!  My kids ate it too, they complained a bit about the peas, but you really couldn't taste them, so they did eat it.  If you can have dairy, adding some cheese to it would be yummy, but I kept it per the recipe for this first time.  It's definitely comfort food.  I served it with corn bread muffins (Pamela's gluten-free mix) - yummy!

Enjoy,
Kirsten

PS:  The recipe comes from the Recipes For Gluten-Free Kids (fun eats from breakfast to treats) cookbook.

TUNA NOODLE BAKE

4 tablespoons dairy-free margarine, divided
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour (mochiko)
1 1/2 cups soy milk or other dairy-free milk
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups cooked gluten-free macaroni, rotini or other small pasta shape
2 cans (6 ounces each) tuna, drained and flaked
2 cups peas
1/2 cup crushed potato chips

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Melt 2 tablespoons margarine in small skillet.  Add onion and garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes or until softened.

2)  Melt remaining 2 tablespoons margarine in medium saucepan over low heat.  Whisk in rice flour; cook and stir 2 minutes without browning.  Stir in soy milk; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer 2 to 3 minutes or until thickened.  Stir in Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, mustard and thyme.

3)  Combine pasta, onion mixture, tuna and peas in a large bowl.  Add sauce and combine.  Transfer to a shallow baking dish or casserole.  Sprinkle with potato chips.  Cover; bake 15 minutes.  Uncover; bake 10 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

NOTES:

~If you are dairy-free, follow the ingredient list above, I did use butter when I made it.

~I stay away from soy, so I used vanilla almond milk.  Yes, the sweetened one.  It tasted great, but you could also use unsweetened rice or almond milk, or the unsweetened almond/coconut milk blend would be good too.

~I always use kosher salt for savory recipes.

~I used Schar gluten-free rotini, but any small noodle would be great.

~I used white albacore tuna, that is my favorite type.

~I used frozen baby peas and I thawed them in the microwave for just a minute before adding them in, but probably just throwing them in frozen would work too.

~I didn't measure, but I'm thinking I used more like 1-1 1/2 cups of potato chips.  I thought that would make it appealing to my boys.  I put it in an oval casserole dish, so 1/2 a cup of chips wouldn't have even come close to covering the top.

~I didn't do this, but I think it would be yummy to drizzle a little bit of melted butter over the chips before baking, however, if you're trying to keep it lower cal, then skip that for sure!