There is an ongoing contest between my friends and I about who can make the best tuna casserole. My recipe, I think, has emerged the undisputed victor, and you will find out why when you make it. You can double the recipe for planned-overs.
Ingredients: 2 cups wide scoobi-doo or egg noodles, 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/4 cup flour, 3/4 tsp basil, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 3 cups milk, 1/4
cup grated parmesean cheese, 2 cans tuna, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.
Method: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook and drain noodles. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan, sauté the onions until they’re translucent, blend in flour, salt and basil, gradually stir in milk, and boil the whole thing until it thickens.
Remove from heat, add cheese until well combined, and put in an oven-safe casserole dish. Fold in noodles and tuna. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs all over the top until well coated. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until brown on top. Enjoy!
Ricotta and vegetable linguine:
What student diet would be complete without a hefty serving of pasta? To keep it healthy, you might want to substitute the linguine with healthier (and subsequently more expensive) soba noodles. You may also want to go with lower-fat ricotta cheese to keep tabs on your fat intake.
Ingredients: 1 pkg. linguine, 1 regular-sized container of ricotta cheese, garlic, green beans, cherry tomatoes (if these are out of season/too expensive, use regular, fresh tomatoes cut into small cubes), salt and pepper to taste.
Method: Boil water and add linguine. Cook until tender. In the meantime, cut the beans in half and sauté them with garlic in a bit of olive oil until they’re a bit more tender, but still crunchy. Drain the linguine when it’s done and leave a bit of pasta-water in the pot (approx. 1-2 cups).
Put the linguine back into the pot with the pasta-water, and add the entire container of ricotta cheese. The water should bond with the cheese to make a creamy sauce.
Now halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pot so they warm up in the creamy goodness. Add the green beans and garlic to everything else, mix everything up, and serve. Again, the pasta keeps in the fridge for a few days, so make a lot to have it later for lunch/snacks.