Tuna Mornay

When @SirKnight posted that it was time for us to go #back2basics, this was the first thing I thought of making. And then I wasn't well enough to make it for a bit, but now I'm feeling better and this dish tasted great.

Tuna Mornay

This recipe comes from my mum. I'm no idea where she got it from. Might have been a cook book, might have been my grandma. I got it on a scrap of paper, and I'm pretty sure we've all modified it a bit over the years.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Milk
1 Bay Leaf
5 Black Peppercorns
425 gram can Tuna in Brine
60 grams Butter
1 Onion, chopped
2 Celery Stalks, chopped
1/4 cup Flour
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/3 cup Cream
2 tablespoons Gherkins, chopped
1/4 cup Parsley, chopped
100 grams Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs

Method

Place the milk, bay leaf and peppercorns in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil. As soon as it starts to boil, remove from the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes to infuse. Strain the milk into a jug, discarding the bay leaf and peppercorns.

Drain the can of tuna, adding the brine to the milk. Break up the tuna with a fork. Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.

Remove from the heat and slowly mix in the milk and brine. Start with 1/4 cup at a time. When half the liquid is mixed in, add 1/2 cup at a time until it's all mixed in.
Return to a low heat until it boils and thickens. Simmer gently for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the nutmeg, cream, gherkins, parsley and half the cheese.

Remove from the heat and stir in the tuna.

Pour the mixture into a greased casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden.

Comments

• As you can see some images, I added some Mushrooms to the mixture when the Cream and other things goes in. 3 Mushrooms, finely sliced. This was an excellent addition
• I don't measure the cheese. 100 grams would be a minimum. This was probably closer to 200 grams. and I added some Parmesan on the breadcrumbs too.
• To make this more basic, but less tasty, skip the milk infusion. It won't save you time if you're doing the chopping of the celery and onion, and getting other things prepared during the 15 minutes infusion time though.
• Gherkins to taste. I used more than normal this time, but they were leftovers that I had. Normally I'd use 1-2 pickles depending on size. You can certainly taste them, so you could leave them out if you don't like them.
• Mixing the milk in slowly is very worthwhile. I gave you 6 images because it shows how the sauce develops as you add 1/4 cup (each of the first 4 images) and then 1/2 cup (the last 2).
• I've been having it just on it's own, but it's perfect on short pasta and good on rice. Also great on toast too.