Turkey Tetrazinni

Keith's Recipes

Turkey Tetrazinni

A rich and flavorful baked pasta dish. Wonderfully filling and fun to make!

This is one of the great traditional ways to use up leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving dinner - or any other time you've roasted a turkey.

This is pretty close to how my mother makes turkey tetrazinni, and is unlike most of the other recipes I've seen on the internet. Despite the Italian-sounding name, turkey tetrazinni is a purely American dish, and that likely accounts for the very broad range in recipes for turkey tetrazinni.

Turkey Tetrazinni

Serves about 8

• 2 lbs. roast turkey, chopped or shredded
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. asparagus
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped (optional)
• 1 lb. sliced mushrooms
• 1 package (12 oz.) fettuccine or linguine
• 2 jars (about 32 oz. total) Alfredo sauce (I like to use garlic Alfredo)
• 16 oz. (about) mozzarella, shredded
• 16 oz. (about) Swiss cheese, shredded
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Prepare filling. Wash the asparagus and cut off the dried ends. Cut into about 1 1/2" pieces and brown in olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms once the asparagus really starts to turn bright green (after about 15 minutes). Cover vegetables and reduce heat. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes covered (stirring occasionally) until mushrooms are brown and onions are clear.

While vegetables are browning, begin pasta. Keep an eye on the pasta, as you will only want to cook it about 2/3 done. The rest of the cooking will happen in the oven. Drain pasta and blanch in cold running tap water.

When the pasta is ready (remember, only about 2/3 cooked), pour sauce into a large baking pan to just cover the bottom and keep the pasta from sticking. Pour in a layer of pasta - about 1/3 of what you have and spread it out more or less evenly. Pour 1/2 vegetables and 1/2 turkey over pasta. Cover with shredded mozzarella, another layer of sauce and another layer of pasta. Add remaining vegetables and turkey. Add another layer of sauce and the remainder of the pasta. Add the remainder of the sauce, then cover with the swiss.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the top has golden points.

Serve with salad and garlic herb bread.