Tag: breadcrumbs

Grown Up Tuna Noodle Casserole

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Okay, I am not a huge canned tuna fan.  But I saw this recipe for stuffed shells with tuna, spinach, and roasted garlic topped with bechamel and buttery bread crumbs and I had to try it.  I even had a couple of tins of really nice smoked albacore (pretty much the only canned tuna I like).  You guys, this is not your grandmother’s casserole.

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

The first thing that makes this dish special is the roasted garlic, which is super easy to make.  Just chop the top off of a whole head of garlic, place it on a sheet of foil, drizzle it with olive oil, wrap it up, and roast away.  When it’s done it becomes creamy and sweet and is delicious spread on bread, but we will be using the whole thing in this recipe.  Just squeeze to pop out all the cloves – I find this to be creepy but fascinating.  All that sweet roasted garlic goes into a creamy bechamel sauce.

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

The filling is tuna, spinach, and breadcrumbs – simple, but good.  After it is all mixed up, half of the garlic bechamel goes in to make it nice and creamy.

Well Dined | Tuna and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Then that mixture gets stuffed into cooked pasta shells.  I tried to find whole wheat shells, but no luck.  Then you are going to frantically lick the bowl, and the spoon, and your fingers – because this filling is soooooo good. (more…)

Homemade Veggie Burgers

Well Dined | Homemade Veggie Burgers

Oddly enough, Melissa (Smells Like Brownies) and I both ended up with no plans for the 4th of July this year.  So we decided to go about our weekly vegetarian lunch as usual and, in spirit of the typical holiday food, decided to try making veggie burgers.  Based on her memory of a particularly delicious restaurant version and a couple of online recipes, we came up with our ingredients.

Well Dined | Homemade Veggie Burgers

Mushrooms and lentils were to be the base; with the help of carrots, onion, garlic, and cheddar cheese.

Well Dined | Homemade Veggie Burgers

We seasoned with salt and pepper, thyme, and dry mustard, then bound it together with breadcrumbs and egg.  We saved the “fancy” breadcrumbs (panko) to form a bit of a crust on the outside of the patties.  We learned the hard way that you definitely want to let the mixture chill in the fridge for about 30 min before you form the patties, or you will have a hard time. (more…)