Turkey Tetrazzini Casserole

Use up some of your Thanksgiving leftovers with this week’s #FlashbackFriday. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and an even better calorie burning shopping day today!  As much as I love scooping out Thanksgiving leftovers straight from the dish or making up turkey cran sandwiches, sometimes I just need to try out new recipes for using my leftover turkey and sides.

I originally made this dish as a Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole a few years back and we both loved it.  As I was browsing recipes from the archives, I realized it would be just as easy to make it a turkey dish.  In fact, you could really use turkey in any recipe that calls for pre-cooked chicken, like, my Lazy Chicken Enchiladas or Chinese Chicken Salad.

And if you are wondering what to do with all that leftover Cranberry Spread….then, make these Healthy Cranberry Orange Scones.  I guarantee everyone will love you for making them!

Have a great long weekend everyone!

TURKEY TETRAZZINI CASSEROLE (print it!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz multi-grain rigatoni pasta
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups Cremini Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 6 oz 2% greek yogurt
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped (about 3 sprigs)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice + 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 5 oz turkey, cooked and chopped
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup sliced, roasted almonds
• sea salt & black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Spray a 2 quart casserole or baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

2.  Cook pasta according to package making sure you season the water.  Drain and set aside.

3.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add mushrooms, onion, garlic and carrot and cook for 1 minute.  Add sea salt and black pepper and cook until the mushrooms are browned and carrot has softened, about 4 minutes.  Add broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Transfer 3/4’s of the broth and 1/2 of the veggie mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.  Add Greek yogurt, parsley, thyme, 1/2 the parmesan, lemon zest, crushed red pepper flakes and lemon juice.  Pulse until mixed.  Return the puree mixture to the skillet and toss with pasta, peas and turkey.

4.  Transfer mixture to prepared casserole dish and top with remaining parmesan and almonds.  Bake until sauce is bubbling and top is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Makes 6 1 1/2 cup servings, 8 Smartpoints or 7 points+ each, Simply Filling + 1 WPA

Nutritional information per serving

STEP-BY-STEP

Measure out your pasta and cook according to packaged directions.  I measured out 1/2 a lb (8 oz) of Barilla Multi-Grain Rigatoni Pasta on my favorite food scale.

Chopped the veggies while the pasta cooks.

Sauté the vegetables with sea salt, black pepper and olive oil over medium high heat for about 5 minutes.

Realize that you are 100% out of all chicken broth (homemade and canned).  I love Better Than Bouillon for times like this.

Just add 2 teaspoons to hot water and tadah ~ 2 cups of chicken broth.

Add the broth to the veggie mix, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Prep the flavor enhancers ~ lemon zest, juice, parsley & thyme.

Get everything you need to make up the “homemade cream of mushroom soup” ready to go.

Add 3/4 of the broth and 1/2 the veggies ~ Puree. Then, add the herbs, lemon zest, parmesan, crushed red pepper flakes, greek yogurt and lemon juice.  Pulse to mix.

Add the pureed mix to the veggie broth mix.

Stir in the pasta, turkey and peas.

Pour everything into the prepared casserole dish.

Top with remaining parmesan and almond slices.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling and browned.

I used a 7 x 11 square baking dish because it is easier to portion out into 6 servings.  If you use a casserole dish, just scoop out 1 1/2 cups of this delicious comfort food casserole.

The flavors in this casserole remind me of chicken pot pie, but as pasta and healthier.  Creamy, decadent, herby with a little sweetness from the peas and a nice, nutty crunch from the almonds.

To round out our meal, I chopped up a Parsnip and a few carrots tossed with 1 Tbsp Olive oil and sea salt to roast along side the casserole.  When they came out of the oven, I topped them with 1 Tbsp melted Trader Joe’s Raw Honey (2 points+)  Next time, I am adding cinnamon too – delicious!

Thanksgiving Turkey Made Over!

Thank you everyone for all your incredibly nice comments on my guest posters.  I really did have a great group of girls this go round.  We head back to California tomorrow…..until then, I am soaking up every bit of the ocean, the beach and sunshine that I can.

I will be back tomorrow or Sunday (hopefully if I have time) with an Active Link Giveaway!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

How are you using up your Turkey Day Leftovers?

Night all!