Tuna noodle casserole, minus the gag reflex.

The mere mention of the word "hotdish" a couple weeks ago planted the seed, and I finally succumbed to the urges the other day and whipped up some casserole of the tuna-noodle variety.

Those crazy geniuses at Cook's Illustrated just came out with a skillet recipes cookbook that not surprisingly, is pretty impressive. The seemingly simple recipes that I've tried so far have have turned out to be quite tasty. This fancier-than-average tuna dish brought back good memories. And magically blocked out the bad ones. (I'm talking about you, Lutheran school mystery lunch.)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

2 slices high-quality white bread
3 TB unsalted butter
10 oz white mushrooms, sliced thin (I omitted these, I don't dig the shrooms.)
1 medium onion, minced
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz wide egg noodles
2 cans water-packed solid white tuna
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 TB minced fresh parsley leaves
ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Pulse the bread in a food processor to coarse crumbs. Melt 1 TB butter in an ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the bread crumbs and toast until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, set aside. Or buy some breadcrumbs. Not a bad option.

Wipe down the skillet and melt remaining 2 TB butter on medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms have released their moisture, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the broth and cream, then add the noodles. Increase the heat to high and cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the noodles are nearly tender and the sauce is slightly thickened.

Take off the heat and stir in the tuna, peas, Parmesan and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the crumbs over the top, and transfer that baby into the oven. Bake until the topping is crisp and the casserole is bubbling lightly around the edges. Mmm. Bubbling.