Tuna and Tomato casserol with rice.

Tuna and tomato casserol with rice.

This dish was inspired by my husbands Nan - who makes a very similer style casserol using chicken and bacon ( also very good.)
At the time I had no chicken and needed to go shopping, so I raided the pantry and this is what i came up with.

you will need.

1 lg tin of spring water tuna, drained

1 lg tin of chopped tomatoes

1 ltr of vegetable stock

1/2 cup dried red lentils ( rinse well before adding )

a little oil

about 2 - 3 tbls plain flour

1 brown onion, diced

4 lg stalks of celery, diced

chopped fresh parsley if you have it on hand

salt and pepper to taste

and your favourite rice to serve.


Heat oil in electric fry pan, add onion and celery - cook till onion starts to look clear,
add lentils and mix in.
Sprinkle over four and cook the flour into the veggies..
gradually add stock a little at a time, continue adding as mixture thickens. ( you may not need all the stock, is depends on how much flour you have used.. but keep it aside incase the casserol needs to be thined out later. also don't be too concerned if your casserole is soupy at first, the lentils will absorb alot of the fluid.)
Once the stock has been added, then add your tomatoes.
season with salt and pepper.

The casserole takes approximately 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs to simmer. You want the veggies nice and soft and also the lentils need time to cook. Lentils are super healthy so I try to find ways of adding them to recipes if i can.

Once cooked stir through some fresh chopped parsley to make the casserol look pretty and serve with rice.


Since making this, my husband Russ asks for it alot. Generally i can feed us ( Russ, Seth and myself ) for the night as well as freeze enough for another two family meals.
The other huge bonus is that it's as cheap as it gets for such a large, wholesome meal.

Enjoy,

LittleMissJen

Tuna Rice Casserole:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups instant rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium saucepan, mix water, garlic, onion, salt and black pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute, then stir in the rice. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Line the bottom of a 9x5 inch loaf pan with half of the rice. Top with drained tuna, cheese, tomatoes and the remaining rice.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes.