Turkey Tetrazzini, Revived

On the menu tonight – Turkey Tetrazzini!

What is Turkey Tetrazzini? You would think with the Italian name, Tetrazzini, it would be Italian. You would be wrong, it is an American dish. While it DOES have pasta and some Parmesan cheese, that’s about as far as it goes in the Italian direction. Tetrazzini is a baked pasta dish browned in the oven with a white cream sauce and usually topped with bread crumbs. It was invented, we think, in San Francisco in the early 1900’s. Others believe it was invented in New York City. You can read all about Tetrazzini here if you want to know more about its origin.

I decided to make it because I was trying to figure out a dish I could make that would help me use up some ground turkey. Usually, you would used a diced chicken or turkey, but I didn’t have that on hand. After a lot of looking around at turkey recipes, I decided to do a Tetrazzini.

I opted to make my own sauce instead of using the canned soup, which I think makes it much more flavorful. Since it includes pasta, a little meat goes a long way. This turned out SO great! It’s so creamy and delicious!

So, if you are feeding a crowd or making a pot luck dish, I hope you will try my version of Turkey Tetrazzini.

Print Recipe

Turkey Tetrazzini

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By Patrick Dulmage – Serves: 12

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 55 minutes

Turkey Tetrazzini

Ingredients

• 1.5 - 2 lbs ground turkey (could also use about 3 cups leftover turkey or even rotisserie chicken)
• 12 oz spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 cups turkey broth
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 lb mushrooms (white or cremini) sliced
• 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, separated - two 1/2 cups
• 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• 1 tsp thyme

Instructions

1

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

2

Bring a pot of water to a boil

3

Cook pasta until al dente (follow pkg directions depends on the pasta you use)

4

Once cooked, drain and set aside (save a cup of the water)

5

In another large pot, pre-heat it over medium-high heat

6

Add the butter and garlic and let cook about a minute

7

Add the mushrooms and ground turkey

8

Season with salt and pepper

9

Once the turkey is mostly cooked, add the white wine

10

Cook until the liquid has reduced by half

11

Sprinkle in the flour and stir. The sauce will start to thicken quickly

12

Add the broth, stir, and continue to cook until the sauce is nice and thick

13

Add the cream cheese and continue to stir

14

Add the peas, Monterey Jack and half of the Parmesan cheeses, continue to stir

15

Add the salt, pepper, and thyme. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed

16

Add the cooked spaghetti and stir to combine. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more broth or some of the pasta water

17

Pour the entire mixture into a 13x9 casserole dish and spread it evenly

18

Top with panko and the rest of the Parmesan cheese

19

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown

20

Once finished, let it rest at least 5 minutes before serving

Notes

You can make several variations on this dish. You could use chicken, tuna, shrimp, and I bet scallops would be really good in this too. If you didn't want any meat or fish, you could use larger pieces of mushroom - like from a Portobello mushroom in addition the cremini.