So yes, we went back out into bright sunshine with no wind to speak of, and David removed more snow from the bottom of the drive while I messed around digging out the walk to the front door. He put the snow “rake” together and I pulled some of the snow off the porch roof, then David raked while I dug out more of the front sidewalk to the corner. And after that, David went in and I used the big light aluminum shovel to dig toward my neighbor, who was digging out the sidewalk from his side. The snow is so light and friable that this was a breeze – not without effort, but lifting it was no problem. I met up with the neighbor and we called it done, like at Promontory Point. Huzzah, etc.!

And then I went inside and collapsed with another cup of strong tea.

After that, we messed around with a new recipe that turned out really good – adapted for what we had on hand and also for non-dairy needs. And hey, Noona Toodle Casserole was created!

I started with this Dairy-Free Tuna Noodle Casserole…

Ingredients

o 6 cups whole wheat pasta, cooked
o 1 (170 g) cans tuna ( flaked is easiest)
o 1 1/2 cups frozen green peas
o 2 tablespoons vegan margarine ( I recommend Earth’s Best)
o 2 tablespoons unbleached flour ( you can use white)
o 2 cups chicken bouillon
o 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

which got turned into:

• 5 or 6 cups of whatever pasta we had on hand (in this case, penne rigate)
• 3 flat packages of albacore tuna (it was way more than 170g, but two was about 150g
• 1 1/2 cups frozen edamame (no way we were going out to the store)
• 2 T butter (We’re okay with butter, no problem)
• 2 T flour (ordinary all-purpose)
• 2 c chicken broth or stock
• 1/2 t fresh ground black pepper
• about a cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 5 or 6 slices of soy-based mozzarella “cheese”

The original recipe didn’t have the bread crumbs or “cheese,” and ended up with “stir it all together and enjoy.” Well, we wanted a casserole, not a giant mixing bowl of hot noona toodle.

So we went with:

Directions

1. Set cooked noodles aside, do not rinse.
2. Melt dairy-free margarine in pot over medium heat.
3. Add flour to melted margarine, mix until no lumps remain.
4. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken broth and mix until well blended into flour/margarine mixture.
5. Slowly add the remaining chicken broth, mixing well.
6. Add flaked tuna to the pot.
7. Bring to a boil, stirring often.
8. Once boiling, add frozen peas.
9. Simmer until desired thickness is achieved (it was thick-ish, but a little too soupy)
10. Combine sauce with cooked noodles in pot you cooked the pasta in.
11. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, or until excess liquid absorbed and a good consistency
12. Place half the mixture in a large casserole
13. Layer soy-mozzarella slices, then add the rest of the tuna-noodle mixture
14. sprinkle reserved bread crumbs (about 1/4 cup, or enough to cover) on top
15. Bake at 350 degrees for half an hour, or until bread crumbs on top are browned.

We used about a 2 quart casserole – the 1 1/2 quart ones didn’t look big enough. David had planned to take some to work with him, so did I.

But we ate the whoooooooooole thing, and it was really gooooooood. Mmmmm. Noona toodle.

The next time, I would totally go with edamame over peas; we might crush or crack them in half with a heavy ladle or a meat tenderizer in a deep bowl, though. They still had plenty of snap and a good mouthfeel after boiling and baking, weren’t mushy, and retained great color and flavor.

And that’s it. Long day. Very sore and tired. But we had a great meal to make up for all the energy we expended running up and down fetching and vacuuming and scooping and shoveling. And we probably won’t have water coming through the ceiling tonight.