Turkey Tetrazzini

By Paul Briand

If you have turkey still leftover in the freezer from Thanksgiving. And if you want another take on a turkey tetrazini recipe for those leftovers, here's the one that's been in our family forever.

Come to think of it, I think the Pilgrims themselves used this recipe after their feast with Massasoit.

My take on this recipe includes more cheese than originally called for, I use half and half instead of cream, plus I use large shells instead of spaghetti.

This recipe, by the way, works equally as well with chicken and you don't need leftovers from Thanksgiving to pull it off. Most markets that offer roasted chickens these days also offer roasted turkey breasts, which provides plenty of meat for the recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups of turkey
1/2 pound of mushrooms
1 cup chicken broth
Flour
1 cup cream (substitute half and half)
Butter
Sherry (to taste)
Black pepper
16 ounces of cooked think spaghetti (substitute shells or your favorite paste)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (substitute 2 cups, add some different cheese to the mix)

Directions
1. In a large skillet over medium high heat melt a half stick of butter and sautee mushrooms;
2. As they start to shrink add flour to make a rue;
3. Add the broth, cream and sherry, stirring until the sauce thickens;
4. (At this point, I diverge from my family recipe and also add a cup of cheese);
5. Add some black pepper;
6. Stir in the turkey and heat through;
7. In a bowl, combine the turkey mixture with the the cooked pasta;
8. Pour the mixture into a baking dish;
9. Top with rest of cheese (You could also add a sprinkling of bread crumbs here, too, as an option);
10. Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees covered for 15 minutes until the cheese melts and the top starts to brown;
11. Serve with cranberry sauce.