Tuna Casserole (without condensed soup)

One of my favorite comfort foods of all time is Tuna Casserole. I'm not talking about the fancy baked dish with the special topping that dear Martha makes. I mean the stick to your ribs throw a few cans of stuff together with pasta, glob it into a bowl, and go watch tv with the family kind of Tuna Casserole. However, I am married to a rather picky guy who simply won't settle for cans of anything tossed haphazardly into a pot and eating in front of the tv is a RARE occasion.

In my opinion, this recipe meets both of our qualifications.

Start a pot of salted water to boil.

Open two cans of chunk light tuna in water. Toss into a pan, liquid and all. Push tuna to the side of the pan and add a tablespoon or two of oil to the liquid. Swirl together and plop 1/3 cup of flour on top. Mix into a paste. Cook for a few minutes and then add about a cup of milk. Stir tuna back into mixture, add one pound of frozen peas. Stir well. Add salt and pepper and more salt and pepper to taste. If you're used to cans of this and that in your tuna casserole then you will be shocked at how much salt that you think is needed to get it to taste just right. I add a little bit of onion powder and a teeny pinch of nutmeg too. Add another cup of milk if needed. I don't typically measure I just add it until it's a little runnier than I want it.

When water boils add 12-16 oz of pasta. I like the bowties. Cook according to package.
Drain.
Mix together pasta and tuna mixture as soon as peas are warmed through. Serve with a generous sprinkle of fresh cracked black pepper.

Cost
12 oz Aldi Pasta 89cents
2 cans Starkist tuna bought on a discount rack at Walmart 90 cents total
1 pound frozen Meijer brand peas 88 cents
2 cups of milk- 32 cents (Aldi milk was 2.45 a gallon last week.)
Flour 4 cents (Flour was 1.89 for five pounds, there are 20 cups in five pounds of flour.)
Spices 10 cents
Oil 8 cents
Total cost for SIX servings $3.21 or 54 CENTS per serving!