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Cheesy Chicken Tetrazzini
Filed under Main Dishes - Chicken, Main Dishes - PastaOct 22
Sometimes things just don’t go as planned…I typically like to choose recipes that are fast and fairly healthy for weeknights. If we splurge, it will usually be on the weekend. And I’ve also been trying to be better at a little menu planning, even if it is only planning for 3 meals at a time.
Last week, I had planned out a few meals. One that I had planned was a basil pesto pasta dish, which I thought I’d use my basil to make my own pesto as sort of a farewell to summer. And let me tell you – I’m not really in my right mind these days anyway, so it didn’t really phase me when we had our first little snowstorm the weekend before. I got home from work and went to make dinner. I stepped out into the garden to find a huge, brown, totally dead basil plant. I thought to myself that I should have known better!! So the meal I had planned for dinner that night was down the drain.
I had defrosted some chicken, and we had to eat, so I went into back-up mode, which I’m not usually very good or successful at. I started pouring through cookbooks, looking for a recipe that I could make where I had everything on hand. What I ended up with was a recipe that is neither really fast nor healthy, but I had everything, and it was delicious!!
When I say this isn’t the healthiest dish, I’m not kidding. 1/4 cup of butter and 4 cups of cheese. Yes, 4 cups. The good thing, though, is that it makes a large casserole dish full, so we actually got about 4 servings each from it over the next few days. So I guess 1/2 a cup of cheese each serving isn’t that bad!
Cheesy Chicken Tetrazzini
adapted from Favorite Recipes the Costco Way (2007)Serves 8-10
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half and half or whole milk
4 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
1/2 pound pasta, cooked, drained (we used farfalle, because we had it!)
4 cups cooked chicken torn into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups toasted fresh bread crumbsPreheat oven to 350F.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Saute until liquid evaporates, about 12 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add broth and half and half, stirring until blended. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add 3 cups cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Stir in pasta and chicken. Pour into a buttered shallow 3 quart baking dish.
Mix remaining cheese and bread crumbs; sprinkle over casserole.
Bake, uncovered, until the sauce bubbles and the top is lightly browned, 35-40 minutes.
23 Responses to “Cheesy Chicken Tetrazzini”
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Maria said on October 22nd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Wow, that is a lot of cheese and butter! I guess this would be a real treat for dinner…but only once in awhile!
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Lisa said on October 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
This looks delicious! Cheese and butter always makes things great.
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Mandy said on October 22nd, 2008 at 5:35 pm
What a recovery! This looks awesome.
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Birdie said on October 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Funny… I just made Turkey Tettrazini, it’s in the oven now!
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Peabody said on October 22nd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
This sounds good. I never make Tetrazzini since it is usually with turkey and my husband is not a turkey fan. I think we shall make this tomorrow night!
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Beth said on October 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Ive made a turkey tetrazinni before and it was gorgeous. Ive bookmarked this one
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Chocolate Shavings said on October 22nd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Your basil incident made me smile because I’ve been in similar situations so many times. It’s great that you were able to try out this great Tetrazzini though!
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Mrs. L said on October 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I see nothing wrong with 4 cups of cheese and all that butter. It sounds delish. Who needs to be able to see their feet anyway….
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Emiline said on October 23rd, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Testing…
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Emiline said on October 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Now I’ve forgotten what I was going to say!
Oh, I was going to say that I wouldn’t feel too bad about the cheese. It’s good for you! All that calcium.
This is coming from a person that ate fried chicken and onion rings for dinner last night.[Reply]
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Dawn said on October 23rd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
This is perfect for me. I love this creation. We are having our first cold snap tonight–so, everything will die outside. I’m not ready for winter, I am ready for summer already.
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Sophie said on October 23rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Yay for butter and cheese! This looks so yummy.
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Elle said on October 24th, 2008 at 3:31 am
That’s a lot of cheese! Calcium is good for expecting moms, so it’s a good thing, Sounds yummy, too.
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Caroline said on October 24th, 2008 at 7:15 am
That looks good! Yeah, butter and cheese makes everything yummy.
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Darius T. Williams said on October 24th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Cheesy and creamy – now this looks good!
-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com[Reply]
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Prudy said on October 24th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
We have tetrazzini every year the week after Thanksgiving with all the t leftovers. I love the stuff, decadent feast that it is.
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Rosie said on October 24th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
You made a great recovery of a meal Debs and this looks delicious!
I understand about menu planning and that things in my house don’t always run to plan either.
Rosie x
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Grace said on October 24th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
anything with that much grease is bound to make me a happy camper. i like it, deborah. i like it a lot.
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Kevin said on October 25th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Cheese, mushrooms, pasta… this sounds great!
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PheMom said on October 25th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Oh I had to smile! That sounds exactly like me – I am not a good meal planner anymore – but look at those delicious results!
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Paula said on October 25th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Oh boy, I like this recipe. It’s just loaded with chicken! Four cups of cheese and a cup of cream, well, that’s just helping you meet your daily dairy requirement! That bread crumb topping would find it’s way onto my plate. YUM!
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glamah16 said on October 27th, 2008 at 12:33 am
You know I never had this until recently, and it was good. So now I have your recipe I may give it a go.
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Shaheen (Coco) said on October 27th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Looks very delicious, Deborah.
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