Recipe Snapshot: Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini

I grew up in the Midwest (Ohio), and my family ate a lot of casseroles.    My husband grew up on the East Coast (New Jersey), and his family did not eat a lot of casseroles.  When we first met, I was concerned that his lack of love for all things casserole would spell the end of our relationship...but eventually I was able to bring him over to the other side with me.  Sort of.   You'll never catch me making tuna noodle casserole (complete with crushed up potato chips as the crust) for him.  Maybe because even I hated tuna noodle casserole?  But I did get him to love my chicken tetrazzini--and I think it's because I did a couple of things to bring it into the next century.

Mostly what I did was replace all of the canned/jarred veggies with their fresh counterparts.  It's a tiny bit more work, but totally worth it!  (Canned mushrooms and jarred pimento are not things my husband will eat, and I don't blame him.)  The base is still cream cheese and chicken broth, but some things should not be messed with.  (Though I have bowed to concerns about our waistlines and replaced the full-fat cream cheese with the reduced fat kind.)  Many recipes call for heavy cream or cream of chicken soup, and I think the cream cheese base is superior to both other options.  The heavy cream is, well, heavier.  And the cream of chicken soup just doesn't have the same tang of cream cheese.

I also use a short pasta instead of spaghetti noodles.  This is just a personal preference--I really like penne or farfalle.  If you use a long pasta, use something thin (e.g., no fettucine).

When I was growing up, we usually had tetrazzini made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  You can do it this way, as well, but I really like tetrazzini and want to have it more than once a year!  The perfect solution is a rotisserie chicken from the deli section of your grocery store.  (You can also poach or bake a couple of chicken breasts yourself and then shred them, if you prefer.)  Just shred up a couple cups of the meat, and if there's more on the bird, you can save it for chicken salad or something else.

Recipe below the cut!

Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini, recipe from my mom's collection, altered slightly to suit my yuppie tastes
Serves: 4. Time: <60 minutes. (Less than 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes baking.)

Ingredients

• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• drizzle of olive oil
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 of a red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 14 ounces chicken broth
• 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, cubed
• 8 ounces short pasta
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken (or turkey)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil the pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside. 
3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet, and then sautee the mushrooms until cooked. Set mushrooms aside.
4. Cook and stir onion and celery in butter in a large skillet on medium heat until tender.
5. Add broth and cream cheese. Cook on low heat until cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.
6. Add all remaining ingredients except 1/4 cup parmesan. Mix lightly.
7. Transfer to 13x9 inch baking dish (or a round casserole will be fine--2 qt. size); sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan.
8. Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.