Fresh Basil - I prefer to use fresh basil. You can use dried basil or other herbs like oregano but I don't find you get the same delicious flavour.

Noodles. Don’t worry if you don’t have any penne pasta on hand, you can use whatever type of pasta you have on hand. But for best flavor be sure to use one of the below mentioned pasta types. Our tuna pasta casserole make a great weekend dinner, served with garlic bread, salad and homemade coleslaw. Place half the passata in a bowl with the cream cheese and whisk until fairly well combined. Stir into the drained pasta and vegetables. It may surprise you to know that I’ve not always liked tuna pasta bake. In fact, it’s something I’ve only recently begun to eat thanks to my husband. Over the years he’s managed to stop me being a fussy eater and turn me into a food blogger. And as you know, I now eat virtually anything! That’s a pretty huge leap but then, he is a pretty amazing person. A pasta dish is the best thing to make when you’re on a budget. It doesn’t even matter if you make too much because you can pop some in an air tight container and have it for lunch the next day! Which means you’re saving money on lunch as well, what’s not to like!Store this creamy tuna pasta bake properly sealed in a special airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. You can freeze it for 2 months or so. Spoon the tuna into the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Pour over the pasta and sauce. Tap the dish gently so the sauce pours into every nook and cranny. Sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese. You’ll just LOVE how simple our cheesy tuna pasta bake is to prepare and cook. Step One – preheat the oven and cook the pasta The thing I love about the tuna pasta bake is that it’s so affordable. Filling meals don’t have to be super expensive and this tuna pasta bake recipe shows that! You can find the cost breakdown below in the recipe card, but when you think about it, some tuna, pasta, sauace (jar if you want) and some cheese is nothing and it feeds many.

Add a crunchy topping! – top with a scattering of breadcrumbs or even crushed up ready salted crisps mingled in with the cheese for a crunchy topping.Make sure that pasta is cooked until just “al dente”, remember it will be cooking a bit longer in the oven so overcooking the pasta will make it lose structure. Drain the pasta, mix with the white sauce, two 160g drained cans of tuna, one 330g drained can of sweetcorn and a large handful of chopped parsley, then season. Cheese: Use your favorite shredded cheese. We tend to use cheddar or mozzarella, but any shredded cheese can work. You can also easily make the dish dairy free by using a dairy free cheese alternative. I prefer to use albacore tuna for this, as it's firmer and creamier than regular tuna fish. However it is a little on the expensive side, so you can sub it for regular canned tuna fish if you like and it will still taste delicious! This recipe will keep for a couple of days as long as you keep it in an air tight container and I suggest putting it in the fridge as well to keep it nice and fresh! If you want to best results, eat it right away but it still tastes good for lunch the next day and let’s face it, good slimming world lunches are hard to find!