Turkey Tetrazzini

Turkey tetrazzini was something my family never really made growing up. One of my friend's mothers used to make it but I don't think I actually ever had it. I can just recall my friend speaking of it with a far-off look in his eye like he was speaking about some ancient religious relic from his people's past.

So it was that I gave a quick glance at a recipe and figured out that it's actually quite a simple dish. It's basically like making a creamy mushroom soup, adding pasta to it, and baking it in the oven.

Even I could do that!



Before I served up the dish I made this salad with kale, arugula, balsamic glaze, pears, Parmigiano-Reggiano, olive oil, salt, and pepper.



Supposedly turkey tetrazinni is named after an opera star named Luisa Tetrazinni though it is debatable whether it was invented in San Francisco or New York City. I'm going with New York City as that's where my allegiances lie.

What I did was caramelize some shallots and garlic in olive oil and butter then add crimini, shiitake, portobello, and chanterelle mushrooms. I also threw in a little dried thyme and sage and some duck stock I'd made a few nights ago after our roast duck from last week. Then I reduced this down, added skim milk, porcini dust, and finally thickened the mixture with a butter roux.

In another pan I cooked some red peppers which I'd forgotten to add initially. I then added them to the mixture with the frozen turkey meat from either Canadian or American Thanksgiving (I can't remember), a few glugs of dry sherry and a good amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano.



I then paused to take advantage of my brand new glasses with some of the sherry, even though I'm not a huge fan of the fortified wine.

After that I cooked some spaghetti, tossed it in with the sauce and some fresh peas, then topped it with bread crumbs before baking it in the oven for a bit. I did forget to add the almonds to the dish. While there's no real set standard for this dish they are usually an element. I had plenty of almonds but my forgetfulness got the best of me.



The result was pretty good but a little less saucy than I would have thought it would be. Also, I think I could have done without the turkey. Months old frozen turkey, it turns out, is not so much an additive to a pasta dish so much as it is a subtractive.



In an effort to clean out the fridge from the scores of individual beers I had the "Old Brown Dog" from Smuttynose. It was a very nice brown ale, though probably not the best accompaniment for a creamy pasta dish with mushrooms.

But, hey, sometimes you have to let old brown dogs lie.

(I'm sorry about that last line.)