The night-before dinner for the Cooper River Bridge Run (Charleston, SC) demands a classic power-pasta dinner, but my runner is pretty picky about his food. Luckily he loves Chicken Tetrazzini, and I am especially proud of how pretty tonight’s dish came out!
Here are the ingredients for tonight’s dish; some notes follow regarding dietary adjustments:
- 1 package of thin spaghetti, broken in half and cooked according to package instructions
- 1 whole rotisserie chicken, shredded (approximately 3 packed cups of shredded/cubed protein)
- 3 cups of vegetables (my blend is fresh mushrooms, onion, and bell pepper, chopped)
- 1 can of cream of chicken soup
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
- Optional toppings: shredded parmesan, garlic panko/bread crumbs
Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl; pour into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle desired topping. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°, 50 minutes if you made it ahead and had it in the refrigerator.
Makes 8 generous servings or 12 potluck servings.
Semi-homemade versus Traditional: This is a common dish for some semi-homemade action, using a store-bought rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled or roasted chicken from a previous night’s dinner, some frozen veggies, and canned soup instead of the homemade garlic parmesan cream sauce of a truly traditional tetrazzini.
Spaghetti versus Shapes: You’re right; it doesn’t have to be spaghetti at all. We’ve been known to use penne, bowtie, and elbow – basically whatever box of pasta is in the pantry. I can also confirm that egg noodles and even rice (gluten free!) work exceptionally well too!
More than Usual Vegetables: You may also notice that my measurements feature as much as 3X the amount of vegetable that a traditional recipe calls for. When I make a casserole, I’m looking for a truly balanced meal without needing a special side; that always means doubling or tripling the vegetables!
Fresh versus Frozen Vegetables: I also use a combination of frozen and fresh: always fresh mushrooms because canned are gross, but take help from frozen peppers and onions. When I have them on hand, I also add fresh onion and peppers to add crunch.
Sneak in a Vegetarian Meal: this dish is super-easy to make vegan. 3 cups of seitan, tofu or a blend is easily hidden by the wonderful flavors of the vegetables and the cream soups or sauce.
There are canned vegan cream soups already available. If you’re feeling especially domestic, make your own vegan and gluten-free cream of mushroom soup with my recipe, which has the added benefit of being corn free; 2 cans is approximately 1 2/3 cups of homemade cream sauce or soup.
Use mozzarella/pizza shreds both mixed in and as a topping.
Gluten-Free and Delicious: It may seem impossible if you’re new to a gluten-free diet or not kitchen-friendly, but either a great store like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s or and great online store like Amazon Pantry can make it super easy with prepared gluten free pastas and canned soups. I would recommend first trying this dish with Manischewitz GF egg noodles and the Pacific brand of gluten free cream soups; I find that the GF egg noodles cook up nicer than many of the GF pastas and make the transition from traditional to GF pasta easier. Toast some GF panko or bread crumbs in olive oil and fresh garlic for a superb and safe topping (it’s what you see on top of mine in the photo :-)).
Singing about Cooking 