I came up with this recipe on the fly. I had made tuna casserole before and but I had canned soup then. This time I had to make everything from scratch. And it was so good even my mother ate it and she doesn't do mixed vegetables in anything! She loved this recipe of tuna casserole so I'm sharing it with you guys. This meal is perfect for weekdays when you want a meal for the kids. And its a easy way to incorporate vegetables without over cooking them!

Ingredients:

Filling
1 Bag of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
1/4 c Flour
Olive Oil
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
3 cups of Real Parmesan Cheese
4 to 5 cups of Milk
1 container of Pre-sliced mushrooms
3 Drops of Hot Sauce (Red Hot)
6 to 7 Cans of Tuna Fish
Salt and Pepper to taste

Topping
2 c Bread Crumbs (Seasoned/Not Seasoned Your Choice)
2 1/2 c Real Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Stick Real Unsalted, Room Temp or Melted

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 375. On a cutting board chopped your veggies. Allow the mixed vegetables to thaw on the counter. Or if your using steamable veggies please steam them now then place them to side for later. Chop up the onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Chop them up pretty fine. Add some olive oil on a pan and cook all your veggies (bell pepper, onions, and mushrooms). Give them a second to cook about 10 minutes and then add your garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes then remove the cooked veggies from the pan and add them to a separate bowl.
Open all the cans of tuna and place them in a fine strainer over a bowl. To allow any and all excess water to drain from the fish.
In the same pan add some Olive oil enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Then add the flour, stir until all the flour has soaked up the oil. Add the milk and whisk. Whisk until the flour and olive oil have fully incorporated into milk. It should thicken into a thick bechamel sauce. The sauce doesn't need to be thick. So add some more milk until its a smooth pour able sauce. Similar to the consistency of pancake batter. Add your cheese to the mixture. Stir until the Parmesan cheese is fully melted.
Add the mixed veggies and the chopped cooked veggies (mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, and garlic). Stir and blend everything together. If the mixture is too thick and there is not enough sauce remaining in the filling add more milk (be careful slowly add the milk a little at the time), with more milk add a little more cheese to ensure the filling is thick enough and flavorful enough. Allow it to cook for a few minutes over very low heat. Add the seasoning of your choice. You can add parsley, basil, seasoned salt, etc. Whatever you like. Taste the mixture to ensure it has enough seasoning. Then add your drained fish to the filling and stir it up. Try hard to not break the fish too small. You don't want to loose the fish in the sauce.
In a buttered casserole dish pour in the filling. In a separate bowl mix together the softened butter, cheese and bread crumbs. Mix until it resembles a wet sandy texture. Sprinkle all over the tuna casserole filling and then bake in the oven 10 to 20 minutes. Remove and let it rest for a few minutes before serving. Its really good and filling. Serves at least 4 to 10 people.

Enjoy!



*Substitutions*

Fish - You can use chicken instead of fish. Works really well with chicken.
Bread Crumbs - You can use canned biscuits or pre-made pie crust instead.