This Hairy Bikers tuna pasta bake recipe binds short pasta, tuna and sweetcorn in a creamy béchamel, then bakes it under Cheddar until browned. From Everyday Winners, it serves 4 in 55 minutes plus milk-cooling time, at roughly 785 calories a portion by my estimate.
They pitch it as “a real step up from the student/bedsit version”, though Si still insisted on a good helping of sweetcorn. And they start by infusing the milk with bay, mace, cloves, peppercorns and onion, before turning it into a creamy béchamel.
They add that milk a little at a time at first, stirring constantly between additions, until the sauce turns smooth and creamy. And the flour cooks in the butter for a few minutes beforehand, which they say takes away its raw flavour.
Hairy Bikers Tuna Pasta Bake Recipe
Description
The milk is infused and left to cool before it becomes a creamy sauce with Dijon, oregano, tuna, sweetcorn and the cooked pasta. Then it all piles into one big dish under 100g of grated Cheddar for a 25 to 30 minute bake.
Ingredients
For the infused milk
For the bake
Instructions
- Infuse the milk: Bring the milk to the boil in a small pan with the bay leaf, mace, cloves, peppercorns and onion slice. Then take it off the heat and leave it to infuse until it cools to room temperature, before straining it into a jug.
- Cook the pasta: Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain.
- Heat the oven: Then preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6.
- Start the sauce: Melt the butter in a pan and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Then sprinkle in the flour and stir it into the butter for a few minutes, until the raw flavour has cooked out.
- Add the milk: Gradually add the infused milk, a little at a time at first, stirring constantly between each addition until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.
- Mix it all: Stir in the mustard and oregano, then the tuna, sweetcorn and pasta, and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Bake: Pile everything into a large ovenproof dish and sprinkle the Cheddar on top. Then bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is nicely browned.
FAQs
Do you have to infuse the milk?
The book offers no shortcut, because the whole sauce starts with milk infused with flavour before the béchamel is made. But the milk has to cool to room temperature first, so I’d infuse it well ahead rather than at the last minute.
If you’re short of time, plain milk will still work, though that’s my shortcut rather than theirs and you lose the gentle spiced note.
Is there a one-pot tuna pasta bake?
Yes, One Pot Wonders has a tasty tuna bake where the pasta cooks in the sauce by absorption, so there’s no separate pan to boil. And instead of a béchamel it uses garlic, chopped tomatoes, capers, black olives, lemon zest, thyme and optional chilli flakes.
Then the pasta simmers, lid on, in just enough water for about 15 minutes before 75g of Cheddar goes under a hot grill.
Is there a lighter tuna pasta?
Their first Hairy Dieters book has a simple tuna and sweetcorn pasta salad at 183 calories a portion, served cold rather than baked. And their trick there is diluting 3 tablespoons of light mayonnaise with the same amount of water, plus a little vinegar.
It keeps the same tuna and sweetcorn pairing, so it’s a good lunchbox version of this bake.
Will the pasta go too soft?
The recipe cooks the pasta to the packet time and then bakes it for another 25 to 30 minutes in the sauce. So I take it off a minute or two early, because it carries on softening in the oven, though that’s my habit rather than theirs.
What else is like this?
From the same Everyday Winners chapter, their chicken kiev pasta bake turns garlic, herbs and a crunchy crumb into a family supper. But for a cheesier bake with no fish, their Cheddar and tomato macaroni cheese is on the table in about 45 minutes.
And if it’s a creamy fish supper you’re after, their three-fish pie from Perfect Pies is the weekend version.
