1 pound penne pasta
2 cans (or jars) of high quality tuna packed in oil
3 T butter
3 stalks celery, washed and sliced thin
1/3 C flour
2 C chicken stock
1 C milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Several dashes hot sauce
1 ½ C grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 C chopped green onions
¼ C chopped Italian parsley
2 C crushed good quality potato chips (I used Kettle Sour Cream and Cheddar)
Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9×13 casserole dish.
Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and place in a large bowl. Immediately pour some of the oil (about ¼ C) from the tuna over the pasta and stir, this is so that it doesn’t stick while you’re making the rest of the dish. Drain the tuna, discard the rest of the oil and flake the tuna into the pasta.
In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the sliced celery and sauté several minutes or until the celery softens slightly. Add the flour and stir to coat the celery well. Add the chicken stock and milk in a steady stream, stirring well until the mixture is smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the sauce is thickened, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and tabasco sauce. Pour the sauce over the pasta, add the grated cheddar cheese, green onions and parsley, and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning. Pasta will suck up salt so you may want to add more, but remember you are adding potato chips to the dish.
Spoon the pasta into the prepared casserole dish and evenly distribute the crushed potato chips on top. Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the potato chips have just started to toast and the casserole is hot all the way through.
If you are making this in advance, don’t add the potato chips. Store the casserole in the fridge until ready to serve, since the casserole is cold it will take longer to bake. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, covered with foil. Remove from the oven, remove the foil and top the casserole with the potato chips and return to the oven for 15 minutes, or until the chips are very lightly toasted.
Serves 8
