Tuna Melt Pie!

            Confession time: I have been subscribing to Rachel Ray Magazine for a couple of years, and really never make any of the recipes from it.  To be honest, I would often get more product ideas (you know, things that I convinced myself that I REALLY needed) than anything else.  I would say it is somewhat similar to me and the Farmer’s Market.

            If I ever were actually inclined to make something out of the mag, it would tend to always be from the “Dinners for 10 bucks (or less)” section.  This would help me ensure that I wouldn’t break the bank because there weren’t too many ingredients.  The few ingredients thing would then ensure that I could actually make the recipe, as it wouldn’t be too complex for my limited skills.

            In the September 2010 issue, I found a simple little recipe for Tuna Melt Pie which looked super yumm-o!  Isn’t that how Rachel puts it?  It worked great for me, especially as I made it the night before as I knew the next day would be way to hectic to prepare a meal, which would then lead to me telling Chris to “pick something up on his way home.” 

            Not that we are above this, but being trained in Marriage and Family therapy, I have read more articles on “the value of a family dinner” and “open communication” than most people even know exist.  The long and short of it, is that I love our time at the dinner table, serving each other food, and discussing our day and the different things we experienced since leaving home in the morning.  It seems to me that this dynamic is gone when we eat food out of a wrapper on our living room floor while watching a show we recorded on DVR.  Wow, can I go off on a tangent or what?!

            Now, back to the matter at hand.  This recipe was quite tasty and I think that it would be a real hit with kids.  It reminded me of the albacore tuna melt I love so much from Lazlos, so I loved it and was happy to eat it for lunch for a few days!

Slainte!

Recipe:

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 large onion, finely chopped

-6 ounces, mushrooms chopped (I omitted this as I HATE mushrooms)

-four 5 ounce cans tuna, drained

-2 tablespoons mayo

-1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

-3/4 cup milk

-3 eggs, lightly beaten

-1/4 cup flour

-2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preparation:

-Preheat the over to 450 degrees.  In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’ve released and absorbed most of their juices, about 5 minutes.

-In a large bowl, combine the tuna and mayo, breaking up the tuna.  Stir in the onion-mushroom mixture, then stir in two-thirds of the cheese.

-In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, flour and butter; stir into the tuna mixture.  Transfer to a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan (I used a corning ware dish) and bake until browned, about 35 minutes.  Top with the remaining cheese and broil until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!