Pasta Surprise Tuna Melt Stuffed Shells
Prep: 20 minutes Bake 30 minutes
I love tuna melts and I was excited for this idea to have them in a new fashion. I was looking for pasta and this was a great find. Stuffed shells are always fun and this new take on it was an adventure that worked out. This entree is low work to prep, though it takes time to bake but something fun for dinner for a family.
Ingredients
12 oz can of tuna, drained of water
1/2 onion
1 stalk celery
1 1/3 cup of alfredo sauce (buy a 15 oz or slightly more jar of this, you’ll want left overs for later)
Shredded cheese as you please (I did cheddar but any taste you want really)
Pepper
14-16 jumbo pasta shells
Prep
I had extra tuna mixture and just dumped it on top too
Cheese enriches the life
Preheat oven to 375 F
In boiling water, cook the pasta shells for about 9 minutes. You want to under cook them a bit since they will be baked later
Chop the onions and celery while it’s cooking
In a decent sized bowl, add the onions, celery, tuna, pepper, and 1 1/3 cup of alfredo sauce
Mix this all together well. Get this mess going
When shells are done, grab an 8x8 (at least) baking pan (glass is best)
Use a small spoon to scoop and stuff the shells with the tuna mixture and add to the pans
Pour the remaining alfredo sauce on the top of the shells
Add the shredded cheese as desired on top
Bake for 30 minutes making sure the sauce is bubbling and the cheese melted
Afterthoughts
This was gooey and worth it
This tasted exactly like a tuna melt does and without all the bread. That was insane. This was a great taste, that was warm, gooey and light at the same time. The shells don’t bring a whole lot but structure to it. I did have too much of the tuna mixture for the amount of shells I made (12) so I upped that for this recipe. I was surprised about the alfredo, as I thought tuna salad was mayo based but this did not taste of of place or weird at all. It was tasty, easy and fun to have. This would work great as a summer lunch on a veranda.
