The best Tuna Pasta Bake you'll ever taste

This is one of the cheapest meals in the book. There might look like a lot of ingredients but the extra touches are what turn a rather bland meal into something special. I can promise you that if you have eaten tuna pasta bake before (or your family have) then this will blow your mind.

Ingredients (Serves 8)

2 Large tins of Tuna Chunks in Brine

Pasta of Choice (I use Fusilli for the authentic look) – about 21oz (600g)

I standard 8oz (250g) pack of unsalted butter
Plain Flour (same weight as butter)
Medium sized tin of Sweetcorn (if you want to make the true Italian version use frozen peas)
21oz (600g) of strong cheddar cheese
1 Pint of milk (semi-skimmed preferably)
A shot of cream
3 slices of old bread

From your kit box:

Lime Juice (from a squeezer), paprika, cumin, tarragon, oregano, 2 cloves of garlic (I like to finely chop this but you can push it through a garlic press if you like but if you do, DO NOT take the skin off – you are sacrificing taste), extra virgin olive oil

The kit box items here turn this standard meal into something special and will give you a real taste of Italy.

1.      In a large pan filled with water add a glug of oil and bring to the boil. As its reaching the boil throw in the pasta and leave for the time required to cook on the pack LESS one minute. When you think its ready get a piece out and try it. It should be a little chewy as it’s going to get a second cooking. When ready turn off the heat and leave.

2.      In a saucepan over a middling heat melt the butter till its a clear liquid. Cut it up into pieces to make this happen quicker and avoid burning the butter. Patience is everything with the sauce and it’s all about stirring constantly. When the butter is melted take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool for a minute or so, then add the flour slowly in batches. You should end up with a thick light brown paste.

3.      Put the saucepan back on a middle heat, keep stirring. Add a glug of cream and mix it through, then add the milk again in batches making sure the sauce stays lump free. I can’t stress enough that care in the stirring gives fabulous results. Add a good squeeze of lime juice.

4.      When the sauce is runny and clear of lumps add a tablespoonful of tarragon and the same amount of oregano, then a teaspoonful of paprika. Again stir to make sure this spreads throughout the sauce. Now add the garlic and stir.

5.      Grate all of the cheese. Take two thirds of the amount and SLOWLY place into the warm sauce in batches. DO NOT stir too vigorously, nice a gentle gets the best results letting each batch of cheese melt fully into the sauce before adding more. Yet again keep stirring! You will find that the sauce thickens as you add the cheese. This is ok but the sauce must be pourable so if it goes beyond that stage add a small amount of water to bring it back. When it’s ready add another squeeze of lime juice.

6.      Drain the pasta and place in an oven proof dish. A good heavy caste iron dish is the best as it spreads the heat well but any dish will do that you are happy to serve at the table. Whether it’s one dish or two doesn’t matter. There is a lot of produce here (this serves 8 with very generous portions). Turn on the oven at 180 degrees so it can warm up.

7.      Open your tins of tuna and flake on top of the pasta, then with a broad spoon mix it into the pasta evenly. Now open the tin of sweetcorn and do the same. You should have en even spread of pasta, tuna and sweetcorn before you go any further.

8.      Now pour the sauce over the top. Again do it in batches and mix the sauce right through the other ingredients.

9.      Now for the topping! Turn the bread into breadcrumbs using whatever you have to do this. A food processor, a cheese grater (watch your hands!) or just your fingers (this is how Italians do it, rubbing the bread in their fingers). Put a good glug of olive oil in a dish, then the breadcrumbs and the rest of the grated cheese. Get your hands in and mix it all together, don’t squeeze too hard as you don’t want to compress it too much, adding a bit more oil till the mass binds together loosely.

10.  Spread this mix on the top, trying to cover the whole dish with a light topping. Add another squeeze of lime juice over the topping (not too much just a drizzle evenly spread) and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

11.  Serve straight out of the dish at the table with a ladle. Sit back and enjoy all the comments as your dinners say “this is the best pasta bake I’ve ever tasted”