Chicken Tetrazzini, or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the mess

Posted on Wed, May 12, 2010 : 6:30 a.m.

Chicken Tetrazzini, or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the mess

By Jessica Webster

Chicken Tetrazzini was named for a famous Italian opera singer around the turn of the last century.

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

I recently had an overwhelming urge to make Chicken Tetrazzini. This was confusing, since I don't think I've ever had Chicken Tetrazzini, except perhaps at a potluck in my church's basement. But when the urge to cook hits, I try to just go with it.

A brief history of Tetrazzini: While you, like me, might be laboring under the false impression that Tetrazzini is an Italian dish (what with the pasta and the Parmesan cheese), the casserole was actually dreamed up by a San Francisco hotel chef around the turn of the last century. According to Wikipedia, the dish was named for Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini ("The Florentine Nightingale"), who was a regular guest of the hotel.

The recipe seems to have a fairly flexible set of ingredients, but most iterations include pasta, a cream sauce, white wine, vegetables and some form of non-red meat that usually lends the dish the first part of its name. When it's all said and done, it tastes kind of like an Italian chicken pot pie. From California.

Don't say I didn't warn you. Tetrazzini can get messy.

Jessica Webster | Ann Arbor.com

To further confuse the issue of the origins of the meal, the recipe I followed is from Giada De Laurentiis' "Everyday Italian" show on the Food Network. You can watch a video of De Laurentiis preparing the dish, but be forewarned: the heavy editing makes it seem like a pretty quick dish to prepare. It's not.

You can definitely save time by preparing and measuring all your ingredients in advance, or by enlisting the help of a willing sous chef. (I suppose you could also enlist an unwilling sous chef, but then you waste all that time pleading and apologizing.)

You also should know that this recipe can get messy. Really messy. But it's worth the mess, especially if the person who doesn't want to be your sous chef will at least agree to clean up after you. (Warning: Ask them before they actually see the mess.)

I omitted the 3 tablespoons of butter that De Laurentiis recommends dotting the casserole with before baking. She suggests that it helps crisp up the crust, but I found the crust was delicious without the added fat.

Ingredients

9 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 pound white mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, finely chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk, room temperature

1 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature

1 cup chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

12 ounces linguine

3/4 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

1 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup dried Italian-style breadcrumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Spread 1 tablespoon of butter over a 13-by-9 by 2-inch deep baking dish. Melt 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil in a deep large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot pan and cook until pale golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool slightly. Coarsely shred the chicken into bite-size pieces and into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil to the same pan. Add the mushrooms and saute over medium-high heat until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms become pale golden, about 12 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it evaporates, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the bowl with the chicken.

Melt 3 more tablespoons butter in the same pan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, broth, nutmeg, remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Increase the heat to high. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 9 minutes. Drain. Add the linguine, sauce, peas, and parsley to the chicken mixture. Toss until the sauce coats the pasta and the mixture is well blended.

Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Stir the cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the pasta. Dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top and the sauce bubbles, about 25 minutes.

Jessica Webster oversees Food & Drink coverage for the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at jessicawebster@annarbor.com.

Comments

Suki

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 3:05 p.m.

Jessica -- thanks for the website link. I'll keep that for future use. I still believe it would be good to share nutritional content. We had to adopt low fat eating in our household a few years ago (husband health issue) and not only has it made a big positive difference in our health (he's doing great and I lost 20 pounds without even trying!) but we don't miss it at all. Edward -- that's the challenge, isn't it? How can you replicate favorite foods so they are still tasty but also food for you? Thanks.

Suki

Thu, May 20, 2010 : 1:54 p.m.

I saw this recipe in today's paper and all I could think was "heart attack on a plate" -- loads of butter, whole milk, heavy whipping cream and parmesan cheese. Oh my. I don't know how many servings this is intended to cover but it certainly appears that one serving would exceed the recommendations for a full day's worth of saturated fat. I suggest that you provide your readers, at a minimum, the nutritional content of foods like this. Even better, show it in relation to guidelines or include a lower fat version. I think you owe it to your readers to help educate about proper nutrition. Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

Marge Biancke

Wed, May 12, 2010 : 3:26 p.m.

YUM! This is one of my very favorite dishes for leftover chicken or turkey. I consider it a perfect comfort food. Thanks for the new variation.

Mumbambu, Esq.

Wed, May 12, 2010 : 9:34 a.m.

pAO Love it! :) Thanks for adding the Maury link!

Peggy Lampman

Wed, May 12, 2010 : 7:22 a.m.

Looks like my kitchen everyday! Yummy, yummy--wish I had a plate of this for breakfast! It's also great to make after Thanksgiving--substitute turkey for chicken. Thanks, Jessica. Peggy