Tuna Rigatoni Bake

Hi, this recipe is from 'The Dairy Book Of Family Cookery', this is a treasured cooking book in our house as it once belonged to my great-grandma, it is full of great recipes that we (my family and I) still love using and making today. The pasta bake serves 4 nicely. However, my dad was still a bit hungry so he had some bread and butter to fill up afterwards, typically men have larger appetites than women so if you are really hungry, you may want to up the pasta quantities or serve with some garlic bread or add some kidney beans into the bake for extra filling-ness. When slicing the courgette, make sure to slice it in rounds so that you can easily layer it and also keep the circles of courgette quite thin. I hope you enjoy!!

Dietary Info:

-Contains Gluten {You can use any gluten-free pasta in place of the rigatoni}
-No Nuts
-Contains Dairy {Substitute the cottage cheese for a dairy-free version, these are a thing and you can purchase them online, or have a go at making your own then use a vegan cheese alternative for the cheddar or skip the step entirely}
-Unsuitable for Vegans {Make dairy-free, see above, then substitute the tuna for a vegan meat e.g tofu}
-Unsuitable for Vegetarians {Switch the tuna for a different vege meat option; some ideas: tofu, chopped up really small, sliced vege sausages, saetan, chopped etc..}

 Ingredients:
-150g (5oz) rigatoni pasta {I used fusili pasta intead, it tasted fine but because it is smaller individual pasta pieces, the bake kind of fell apart as I served it, but with bigger pasta e,g rigatoni, it may have held its shape a bit better when dished up}
-198g (7oz) can tuna, drained {I used a 145g tinned tuna in brine, drained}
-225g (8oz) cottage cheese
-225g (8oz) courgettes, thinly sliced {This is about 1/2 an average courgette}
-salt and pepper
-396g (14oz) can tomatoes, with juice {I used a 400g tin, a few g won't make that big a difference}
-25g (1oz) English Cheddar cheese, grated

Method:
1: Cook the rigatoni in a saucepan of fast boiling salted water {I just used plain boiling water} for about 8mins until tender, but not soft. {Mine took about 10mins} Drain and set aside.
2: In a bowl, flake the tuna into large pieces and gently mix with cottage cheese. Line the bottom of an ovenproof casserole dish with half of the sliced courgettes, then add a layer of tuna and cottage cheese. {I put all of my tuna and cottage cheese mix down here}{Now add your pasta layer} Continue to layer {This meant for me, just topping with the courgettes but you could have done multiple thinner layers} finishing with courgettes, and season well.
3: Pour over the can of tomatoes with the juice, spreading the tomatoes evenly over the top of the dish. Sprinkle with the cheese.
4: Bake in the oven 190℃/170℃ fan/375℉/ Gas 5 for about 30mins. Serve hot. {I served with a fresh salad}