Turkey Tetrazzini

Leftover turkey: usually, by the time I get around to planning this turkey tetrazzini casserole, the leftovers are gone.

So, this is a long time coming, I finally did it! Having never made this before, I was not confident of the outcome, but it turned out great. So hot, with an adequate amount of flavors and textures. It’s a great casserole dish.

Ingredients:

butter
garlic
mushrooms
salt & pepper
sage
flour
leftover turkey
cream cheese
chicken broth
Cream of Mushroom soup
peas
celery
onion
Monterey Jack cheese
Parmesan cheese
Spaghetti
Panko

I know that’s a lot of stuff, but you can break it down this way: meat & veggies, sauce, noodles and casserole topping.

Leftover Turkey & Fresh Veggies

Start by chopping everything up. Slice the mushrooms, dice the celery, onion & garlic.

Sauce

Start by cooking the veggies in butter, and boiling your broth, this is going to be the base for the sauce. You need a large, deep 12″ frying pan. Once the veggies are soft, translucent & fragrant, sprinkle the flour on top. Stir it up while cooking about a minute or two. I made sure my flour was incorporated and not dry before adding the broth.

Then, add the cheeses (the block of cream cheese & half the Jack & Parmesan). Add the turkey & seasonings, and mix it up real well.

Noodles

Break the noodles in half and cook to al dente. I cooked them in a large pot, then poured the sauce over the noodles to combine. Add the peas and the soup. Try to mix it well, it’s really a lot to combine.

Baking the Turkey Tetrazzini Casserole

Pour it into a casserole dish, and add the topping: Jack cheese, Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Turn off the oven and turn on the Broiler for about 5 minutes to really make that top crusty.

Serve with bread & butter, leftover dinner rolls (if there are any left), or by itself.

Alterations

You can use any cream-of soup you want: mushroom, chicken or celery work well.
I forgot to add fresh parsley. In fact, I almost forgot all my seasonings.
Try it with bacon bits added.
Dice up some black olives if you like them.
Use mozzarella instead of Monterey Jack.
You can minimize this recipe as well. Just layer the cooked noodles in a casserole dish, then add a layer of turkey. Top with cream of mushroom, cream of chicken 2, cups of sour cream (combined with sage) and bake. Add mushrooms as you like before pouring the soup mixture on top.
Try a different noodle, like egg noodle.
Make it Tuna Tetrazzini, or use shredded or diced leftover baked chicken.
Top it with French’s fried onions.
Reduce the Saturated Fat by cutting the cream cheese in half, and excluding the cream of mushroom soup (you will need extra chicken broth, about 1 – 1 1/2 cups).

What is Tetrazzini?

Tetrazzini was invented as a baked casserole dish with spaghetti noodles in cream sauce, turkey, mushrooms & cheese, with a casserole topping, in a San Francisco hotel. It is so named for the opera singer’s debut, Luisa Tetrazzini.

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