Wild Planet Ultimate Tuna - Edamame Casserole

I try very hard to be a responsible citizen of planet earth. I follow the Recycling, Reduce, and Reuse motto as best I can. So yes, that officially makes me a Tree Hugger. But how about food? Do you buy fresh fruits and vegetables locally? Do you buy organic? Or perhaps you have your own backyard garden.

Okay, let's move on to the topic of fish. To be exact, let's discuss tuna. Have you thought about the impact of over fishing? Buying wisely will help preserve the fragile marine ecosystem and aid in the repopulation of endangered species. So when Wild Planet emailed me to help spread the word about their products..... I jumped at the chance.

Wild Planet tuna is caught one fish at a time using sustainable pole and troll fishing techniques. These methods eliminate the unintentional harvest of sea turtles, birds, and other marine life commonly caught with longline fishing, used by fleets supplying conventional tuna companies. Their California sardines and Alaskan salmon are net-caught in single species schools. At Wild Planet, they are committed to working exclusively with wild, healthy stock fisheries for all products in their line.

Wild Planet

. Produce the finest wild seafood only from fisheries that are sustainable and free of wasteful by-catch and                    
    habitat destruction.
.  Develop new standards of seafood safety that assure consumers protection from potentially harmful  
    contaminants both natural and man-made.
. Supply consumers with quality enhanced products that provide greater essential nutrition, promoting
    superior health and wellness.
. Become an example to the seafood industry of finding sustainable balance in both the use and preservation
    of precious marine resources

Cook time: 55 minutes
INGREDIENTS
12 ounces wide egg noodles
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves of garlic, minced
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms  (I used organic Beech Mushrooms)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
1 (6 ounce) can of Wild Planet solid light tuna, shredded
1 1/2 cup grated cheese (I used an Italian blend, Parmesan, and Romano Pecorino)
1 (16 ounce) bag of frozen edamame
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup crushed potato chips
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large (6 qt) pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt. Return to a boil. Add noodles. Cook uncovered on high heat on a rolling boil. Just before pasta is al dente, (firm but cooked through, earliest cooking time minus 2 minutes). Drain in a colander and set aside.

2. In a large pan heat the olive oil and butter then add the garlic. Saute on low for 3-4 minutes, and then add the mushrooms. Stir them quickly so they get coated in the oil and butter. Let the mushrooms cook down for about 10 minutes, stirring only a couple of times.

3. Add a cup of chicken stock and stir. Then add the flour. Using a whisk, mix the mushroom mixture with the flour. Then add the milk, a little at a time, whisking and whisking and whisking. Between additions of milk, let it sit and get thick and bubbly, then add more milk. I only used two cups of milk because I feared it wouldn’t be thick enough. Whisk while heating for several minutes.

4. In the meantime, toss your pasta into the rolling pot of water. Cook it for a few minutes less than the package suggests. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Mix the soup, tuna, edamame, and cheese into the pasta. Make sure the pasta is thoroughly coated and all of the edamame and nuggets of tuna are evenly dispersed. Pour into a casserole. Bake covered for 30 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven, top with cheese and breadcrumbs and broil uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. Yield: Serves 10.



Beech Mushrooms should always be cooked, it is not a good mushroom to serve raw. When raw this mushroom has a somewhat bitter taste; the bitterness disappears completely upon cooking. The cooked mushroom has a pleasant, firm, slightly crunchy texture and a delicious slightly nutty flavor. Cooking also makes this mushroom easier to digest. In stir-fried foods, as well as with wild game or seafood it is a good mushroom. Also it can be used in soups, stews and in sauces. When cooked alone, Beech Mushrooms can be sautéed as a whole, including the stem or stalk (only the very end cut off), using a higher temperature or they can be slow roasted on a low temperature with a small amount of butter or cooking oil.