Turkey only comes once a year for me.  So, when it does come, it’s a big deal—a very big deal.   Scavenging pounds of left over turkey from various families is my own little holiday tradition.  After all the left over mash and stuffing has run out and turkey sandwiches have run their course, I still had a lot of turkey on my hands.  I poked around a bit to find a good recipe to make good use of my Thanksgiving leftovers.  I found Turkey Tetrazzini and added my own variations.  Everyone was very pleased and I hope you will be too.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Ingredients

• 6 oz porcini or crimini (Italian brown) mushrooms, sliced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 leek, quartered and diced
• 3 large carrots or 5 small carrots sliced
• 3.5 oz sun dried tomatoes (1 package), diced
• 2 cups cooked turkey, bit size
• 1 pkg spaghetti, linguini, penne or ziti
• 1 wedge Parmesan (9-10 oz.), shredded (oh yes, the whole damn thing)
• Olive oil
• 2 tbsp almonds, sliced (optional)

For the sauce:

• 2.5 tbsp corn starch
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp salt & pepper (each)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup white wine

Preparation

Over medium-high heat, saute onions in olive oil until just tender.  Stir in sun dried tomatoes, onion, leeks, carrots, salt and pepper.  Drizzle with 1 tbsp. more oil to keep things loose. Reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 375.

Cook pasta as directed by the package, but stop at slightly less than al dente as it will continue to cook when baking.  Drain thoroughly

For the sauce, whisk together corn starch, milk, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and garlic in a sauce pan over high heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Gradually whisk in 1 cup shredded Parmesan until melted.

Incorporate turkey, vegetables, sauce and pasta in a large mixing bowl.  Transfer to a glass or metal baking pan.  Top with almonds (optional) more cheese (not optional!) and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8.

This is the first in a series on holiday left overs.  Up next is another use for glorious turkey: the turkey pot pie.

Tags: almonds, carrots, chicken broth, corn starch, Garlic, holiday, Italian, leek, leftovers, milk, mushrooms, Olive oil, onion, Parmesan, spaghetti, sun dried tomatoes, thanksgiving, turkey, white wine