Thanksgiving Leftovers to Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Tetrazzini (Healthified)

Ahh…the age old debate comes around again. What to make with all our Thanksgiving leftovers – especially the leftover turkey! My personal favorite use for leftover turkey is to make Turkey Tettrazini. I’ve tried a couple recipes over time but haven’t really been 100% happy with any of them.

What’s a girl to do but make up her own recipe? 😉 I give you my take on Turkey Tettrazini – a healthified and from-scratch version.

I decided to add some extra veggies in addition to the norm mushrooms – celery and onion – two mild veggies.

Cooking up the mushrooms

Making the sauce.

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Add lots of fresh parsley

Add the sauce.

Stir.

Add ingredients to a prepped casserole dish.

Smooth flat.

Top with breadcrumbs and fresh-grated parmesan.

Bake.

Enjoy with leftover Thanksgiving veggies…because you can never have enough veggies!

Maybe add a slice of leftover pumpkin pie to boot.

Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Tetrazzini (Healthified)
serves 4-6

NOTE: I searched high and low for the perfect recipe, but didn’t find any I loved. This recipe is healthified than others I’ve seen by using whole wheat flour and less cream than traditional recipes. Add more cream for a richer flavor. This is also a healthier version than recipes that use cans of cream of <something> soups since you can control the ingredients and sodium levels better. Extra veggies are added through mild onions and celery.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups leftover turkey (dark and/or white meat) – chopped into bite sized pieces
• 8 oz dry linguine pasta
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 package mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin
• 3 stalks celery, cleaned, chopped small
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 3-4 tbsp wheat flour
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• dash nutmeg
• salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×13″ casserole dish.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook linguine following package directions, except cook pasta about 1-2 minutes less than recommended time (it will finish cooking when the casserole bakes in the oven). When pasta is done, rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Add cooked pasta to a large mixing bowl when done.
3. Meanwhile, heat a saute pan over medium heat. When ready, add onions and celery and cook till veggies are tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add veggies to large mixing bowl when done.
4. Meanwhile, heat a saute pan over medium heat. Melt 1 tbsp butter in pan. Add mushrooms and cook till mushrooms are tender, about 6-7 minutes. Add veggies to a large mixing bowl when done.
5. In same pan as mushrooms were cooked in, melt 2 tbsp in pan. Add flour to pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, add sherry, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper (to taste), and cook till sauce is thick, about 5-10 minutes.
6. Add parsley to mixing bowl, then add sauce. Stir all ingredients together and pour into the prepared casserole dish. Smooth top flat. Evenly distribute the breadcrumbs (add or reduce amount of breadcrumbs to your liking).
7. Grate parmesan over breadcrumbs.
8. Optional step and ingredients – break small pieces of extra butter and spread out little pieces over top of casserole to help top brown.
9. Bake casserole for 30-40 minutes or until sides are bubbly (the top may not brown unless you do optional step #8 so look for signs of bubbling rather than the browned top for doneness)

The perfect use for Thanksgiving leftovers!