Tuna Pasta Gratin With Butternut Squash And Peas

Family meals...

Health advantages of eating tuna :

Canned tuna is relatively inexpensive and keeps for quite a while in the pantry, making it a convenient protein source when you need a quick meal. Eating either canned or fresh tuna fish will provide you with a number of essential nutrients and may have some health benefits as well due to the omega-3 fats they contain.

More health benefits will discussed below after the recipe.

Serves 4

225g dried penne
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 butternut squash, about 375g peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped into cubes
2 x 200g cans tuna in oil, drained and flaked
175g frozen peas, defrosted
25g butter
25g plain flour
300ml milk
200ml creme fraiche
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
50g Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt


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1. Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the penne for 10 - 12 minutes until just tender, then drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and cook the onion and butternut squash over a medium heat, stirring, for 8 - 10 minutes until softened and golden. Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss together with the tuna and peas.

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat, stirring, for a few seconds. Remove from the heat and add the milk, a little at a time, stirring well betwen each addition. Return to the heat, then bring to the boil,, stirring constantly, cooking until thickened. Beat in the creme fraiche and mustard. Remove from the heat and stir into the pasta mixture.

4. Transfer the mixture to a large gratin dish and sprinkle over the grated Cheddar. Cook under a preheated high grill for 3 - 4 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is browned. Serve with a simple salad.




More health advantages of eating tuna :

1. Nutrition

A good choice for people looking for a low-fat protein source. A fresh bluefin tuna provides you with more of some vitamins and minerals, but also contains more fat and calories.

2. Potential Health Benefits

Eating tuna and other fish may help lower your risk for stroke, heart disease, cognitive decline, cancer, eye disease and mood problems due to the omega-3 fats they contain. Increasing your intake of baked or broiled fish may lower your risk for heart failure, with women consuming more than five servings of baked or broiled fish per week having the lowest risk.

3. Omega-3 Fat

Tuna and many other fish contain the essential omega-3 fats DHA and EPA. Each serving of canned chunk light tuna provides 230 milligrams, or 46 percent of the 500 milligrams of DHA and EPA recommended per day by the American Dietetic Association. Fresh bluefin tuna contains the most omega-3 fats of the different types of tuna, with 1,279 milligrams per 3-ounce serving, and the amount of omega-3 fats in other types of tuna falls somewhere in between that of canned chunk light tuna and fresh bluefin tuna.