Turkey can be just as tasty the second time around

Now that you’ve finished your Thanksgiving dinner, it’s time to decide how to use all those leftovers. In our house, we try to keep the size of the side dishes fairly small, as we don’t find them quite as versatile the following day. 

Although a quick internet search will deliver clever ways to repurpose mashed sweet potatoes and bread stuffing into pancakes or shepherd’s pie toppings, these kinds of recipes seem like they’re force-fitting ingredients into places they really shouldn’t go. 

However, when I look at the turkey carcass, still loaded with meat, I see all sorts of possibilities. Unlike ground turkey, which is typically used as a healthier but not always delicious replacement for ground beef, roasted turkey has flavor and texture that can add depth to a dish. 

A perfect example of this is the casserole seen in the photo, turkey tetrazzini. Before you groan about the prospect of eating a gelatinous sauce that began with a can of cream of something soup, you’ll might want to know a little history about the origins of this baked pasta dish. 

Whether you turn to Wikipedia or a reliable cookbook, you’ll learn the basic ingredients of tetrazzini are diced turkey (or chicken or shrimp), spaghetti or linguine pasta, sautéed mushrooms and shallots tossed together in a sherry-laced cream sauce, topped with slivered almonds and grated Parmesan cheese. 

Without direct proof, but plenty of circumstantial evidence, food historians have come to agree the dish was named after Luisa Tetrazzini, an Italian opera star who had a tremendous following. One of her most famous antics was an impromptu outdoor performance on Christmas Eve 1910 from a San Francisco street corner in front of almost 250,000 people. 

We still don’t know if the original version of pasta tetrazzini featured shrimp and was created by chef Ernest Arbogast at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco or if it was the chicken-based dish made famous by Louis Paquet at the McAlpin Hotel in New York City. Or, it might have been the version from New York’s Knickerbocker Hotel described in a 1908 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine. 

What we do know is that no matter how the dish began, some of the tweaks to the recipe in the years to follow did not enhance its reputation. I can recall my mother making a version from canned tuna and cream of mushroom soup. Later magazine articles touted egg noodle, cream cheese and mayonnaise shortcuts. None of these are truly tetrazzini. 

Ignore the complicated recipes that call for three different pans and a double boiler; all you need is a pot to boil the pasta and an oven-proof pan to make the sauce. While the water for the pasta is heating, sauté sliced mushrooms and shallots in butter. Whisk in flour and broth to start the sauce, following with milk and sherry. 

Once the pasta is al dente, stir it in along with the chunks of cooked turkey. Scatter Parmesan cheese and shredded almonds across the top and bake until browned and bubbly (or, if you use the broiler, slightly scorched as in the photo). I’ve included my favorite recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini, along with a slow cooker turkey soup recipe that’s an easy dinner ready after a day of Black Friday shopping - both make excellent use of your leftover bird.

Turkey Tetrazzini 

1/2 lb linguine 
6 T butter 
8 oz sliced mushrooms 
2 minced shallots 
5 T flour 
2 C vegetable broth 
1 1/2 C whole milk 
1/3 C sherry 
1 T parsley 
pinch nutmeg 
salt & pepper, to taste 
2 C cubed cooked turkey 
1 T breadcrumbs 
2 T chopped almonds 
1/4 C grated Parmesan 

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cook the pasta al dente according to package directions. Melt the butter in a heavy, ovenproof pan over medium low. Add mushrooms and shallots; sauté until almost browned. Sprinkle the flour over the pan and stir until vegetables are coated. Pour in the broth and stir to dissolve the flour completely. Add the milk and continue cooking until mixture has thickened. Stir in sherry, parsley and nutmeg; adjust seasonings to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in cooked turkey. Drain pasta and add to pan, stirring to combine. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over top. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Slow Cooker Turkey Soup 

6 C chicken stock 
1 T tomato paste 
1 1/2 C diced onion 
1 C diced celery 
1 C diced carrot 
1 1/2 t poultry seasoning 
1/2 t salt 
1/2 t white pepper 
2 C chopped cooked turkey 
1/3 C orzo 
1 T lemon juice 
1 T minced parsley 
salt & pepper, to taste 

Pour stock into a slow cooker and turn it to high. Stir in tomato paste, whisking until combined. Add onion, celery, carrot, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 4 hours (or on low for 8 hours). Add orzo and chopped turkey; cook on high until orzo is al dente, about 30 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.