Last night, with leftover Maple Block Meat Co smoked turkey, we made Not Another Cooking Show’s Turkey Tetrazzini. Worth the effort.
The recipe
TURKEY TETRAZZINI
In a small pan, sautéed garlic, onion For about 3-5 minutes or until golden brown and begins to fry. Then add peppercorn, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, sage and salt until it begins to caramelize. Optionally, you can add a teaspoon of Calabrian chili paste for some heat. Then deglaze with a little of the sherry. Then Pour in 1 1/2 cups of cream, 1/4 of a lemon, zested and then bring to a boil and then simmer for 3-5 minutes. Set off to the side.
In another larger pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil and once hot, saute mushrooms until they release they’re moisture and begin to brown. Season with salt and then add 4 tablespoons of butter and the garlic and sauté the garlic until it begins to brown. Once the butter is melted and slightly browned, then sprinkle in the 4 tablespoons of flour, and whisk until a creamy light brown mixture forms. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then deglaze with the sherry then slowly whisk in the hot 3 cups of turkey stock. Bring to a boil to allow it to thicken to create a sauce veloute, one of the 5 mother sauces of French cuisine. Cook for 5 minutes. Once thickened, strain in the infused cream, and whisk to incorporate into the veloute, creating sauce Supreme, essentially a veloute which is finished with cream and mushrooms, a derivative or secondary mother sauce.
Cook the pasta exactly half the time the box says to in salted water. I used cavatappi, they cook in 8 minutes, so cook them for 4 minutes before draining and reserving 2 cups of the pasta water. Return the pasta back into the large pot you cooked it in. Then pour in the sauce supreme, 2 tablespoons of the Marscapone, along with about 1/2-1 cups of the grated parmigiano reggiano. Stir to combine and melt the cheese into the sauce, using pasta water as needed if the pasta gets dry. We need enough sauce and for it to not be too thicken in order to compensate for the rest of the pasta getting cooked in the oven. So if it’s on the looser side, that’s better than if it’s on the thicker side but just use the pasta water to regulate it.
Pour the mixture into a square 8x8 baking dish.
In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, 1 cup of parmigiano reggiano, 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine.
Add the panko topping to the surface of the pasta and bake at 400 F degrees for about 30-40 minutes until bubbling and the breadcrumbs are browned. Serve with parsley, parmigiano reggiano and I like to add some fried onions if you’ve got them.
