Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini from The Belle

Missy, here. Last week I shared a recipe for making turkey in the slow cooker. Today I'm sharing the recipe I used to make turkey tetrazzini with the leftovers.

One of the reasons I bought an iPad last year was because I wanted it to use while cooking since I look up recipes online so often. I soon discovered the Food Network app. It's a little slow starting, and it has its flaws. But overall, I really enjoy using it. I've kept a recipe box online for ages, and those recipes pull up on my iPad. The app even has a little slider you can move to keep track of which step you're at in your recipe.

The recipe for my leftovers was found using the app. Click here to see the recipe from The Pioneer Woman show. I didn't use the mushrooms because my daughter would have rejected it. I'm sure they would have really added a lot and look forward to making again WITH mushrooms. I also just used the cheese I had on hand. And used regular bread crumbs instead of panko.

WARNING.

 Let me just say this was more time consuming than I thought it would be. Still, it's worth the effort!

Turkey Tetrazzini
Adapted from Ree Drummond

1/2 stick butter
1 Tbsp. minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1 pound mushrooms, quartered (again, I didn't use these)
1 cup dry white wine (NOTE: I decreased this to about 1/2 cup since I had no mushrooms to absorb)
1/2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
4 cups (1 box) chicken broth
8 oz. package cream cheese softened
3 cups leftover turkey--mine was shredded
1 bag frozen green peas
1 cup grated cheese (I used Light 4-cheese Italian)
1 cup  finely chopped kalamata olives (Ree used black, but kalamata are my fav)
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
4 slices bacon, fried and chopped
1 box thin spaghetti noodles, broken and cooked al dente
1 cup plain bread crumbs

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Whew. Now, after that huge list, take a deep breath. Maybe take a nap.

Okay, we're back. Now, some prep work. I'm going to share a tip I learned ages ago on a cooking show. I think it was from Melissa D'Arabian (Food Network Star winner). She said you can keep bacon in the freezer. When you need a slice, you just cut across one end (across all the slices), so there's no need to try to pull off one slice. Cut about 1 inch for one slice. Then toss it in the skillet to fry. I made 4 cuts for 4 slices of bacon.

Crumbled in the pan for cooking until crisp. Then drained on paper towels.

Cook the noodles according to package directions until al dente.

Chop/shred the turkey. And chop the olives.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat and add the garlic.

Add in the wine, salt and pepper (and mushrooms if using), and cook them, stirring 

occasionally, until the liquid reduces by half. This took several minutes.


Sprinkle the flour over the garlic and wine and stir to combine (like making a roux).

Pour in the broth, stir and continue to cook until the sauce is thickened, several minutes.

Add the cream cheese and stir until it mixes in. It takes a bit to get smooth.

Add the turkey, peas, cheeses, olives, and bacon.

Stir until combined, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the spaghetti noodles. If the mixture is too thick, splash in some broth (I didn't need any 

more).

Pour into a large casserole dish (sprayed with cooking spray) and spread evenly.

Sprinkle on the breadcrumbs and bake it until the  golden brown and bubbly, about 20-25 

minutes.

This was DELISH! Creamy and cheesy. And would have been even better with the 

mushrooms. I may be making this again sometime when my daughter is away. Worth the 

effort on the prep work. And a great way to use leftover turkey.

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