When my husband dreamed of marriage as a little boy, I'm sure that tuna casserole was one of the three rights he assumed due all husbands (along with making babies and gravy, of course). Nothing says fifties housewife, to me, more than tuna casserole.

And yet.

Despite having been married for years and having two of the aforementioned babies, I had never secured a recipe for tuna casserole. None of my new millennium gourmet cookbooks included the all-important tuna casserole section.

So when I had the opportunity to purchase The Casserole Cookbook (copyright 1956, 1955, 1954), of course, I jumped. There were several tuna casserole recipes, but they all followed a similar format. So I've developed a fool-proof tuna casserole blueprint (which you could use for - shhh! - other meats and proteins, too). Why don't you come along with me...

Step One: starch, four cups cooked. Every casserole starts with a starch of some sort, whether it's rice or pasta or cubed potatoes. Noodles are, of course, the very soul of the fifties. I almost used some curly egg noodle circa 1955, but ended up selecting orzo instead. You could really use anything. Cook according to package directions to al dente, or toothy, or not quite tender. You'll want 3-4 cups of starch once it's finished cooking (eight ounces of pasta is perfect).

Step Two: sauce, two cups. My casserole cookbook has an all-purpose white sauce recipe that makes about a cup. For the tuna casserole, they suggest doubling the recipe and adding four ounces of shredded cheese. A.k.a. cheese sauce, which I discussed earlier. You can add a can of tomatoes here, but I didn't choose that option.

Step Three: protein, two cups. Fifties housewives knew how to make their meat stretch a long way thanks to the memories of World War II rationing. Two cans of tuna is plenty. If you choose another type of protein, it could be 1-2 cups of shredded, poached chicken or fish, or cubed roast beef, or browned hamburger or other ground meat.

Step Four: veggies, two cups. Got frozen peas & carrots? This is the place to use them. My favorite addition is frozen spinach (easy to portion, really good for you, goes with everything), or frozen asparagus pieces. You could use canned veggies but I really don't recommend it.

Step Five: Mix everything. Turn into a buttered casserole dish, 3-4 quarts.

Step Six: Top with buttery crunchy stuff. Popular 50s toppings included pastry (i.e. pie dough), crumbled-and-buttered Saltine or Ritz crackers, or biscuits. I picked a more 70s-style topping, crumbled potato chips sprinkled with melted butter. Yum.

Step Seven: Bake, 400 degrees F, until top is browned, about 20 minutes. Eat, enjoy.

[Photos Sarah Gilbert]