Name: Damaris Phillips's Winning tuna noodle casserole
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Cuisine: Seafood
Ingredients: 8 oz egg noodles; 2 cans (5 oz each) albacore tuna in water, drained; 3 tbsp unsalted butter; 3 tbsp all-purpose flour; 1.5 cups whole milk, warmed; 0.5 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded; 0.25 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 0.5 tsp Dijon mustard; 0.25 tsp cayenne pepper; 1 tsp fresh lemon juice; 0.75 cup panko breadcrumbs; 2 tbsp melted butter, for topping; 0.5 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped; Salt and black pepper to taste

Tuna noodle casserole is the dish that food media has been trying to rehabilitate for thirty years, and Damaris Phillips — Food Network Star winner, host, co-founder of Bluegrass Supper Club catering, and the chef behind Southern Fried Charm in Louisville — did not need rehabilitating. She needed to execute a dish she already understood as a structural composition: cream sauce, protein, starch, crust.

Phillips built her béchamel with a high roux ratio, 3:3:1 butter-to-flour-to-milk by volume, creating a sauce thick enough to hold the noodles in suspension rather than pool at the bottom. She used tuna packed in oil, not water — more fat, more flavor, and it doesn't dilute the sauce. Her breadcrumb topping went on at the last ten minutes of a 375°F bake, added late to prevent burning while the interior finished setting.

Bobby's casserole was reportedly under-seasoned and thin. A sauce that pools is not a sauce — it is a problem Damaris Phillips knew how to solve before she walked in the door.