You slaved away in the kitchen to prepare a beautiful meal for your friends and loved ones family. They came, ate, drank all your good alcohol, and left you with nothing but a sink full of dirty dishes, a refrigerator full of leftovers and five fewer Valium.
Now, I have never been one to turn up my nose to leftover mashed potatoes or pecan pie, but sometimes I don’t even like turkey the night of, much less two days later. Luckily, my dear friends, half and half, butter and pasta come to the rescue with a simple, delicious way to jazz up your leftover gobbler.
serves 8
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 cup onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cup half and half
- 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup cooking sherry
- 16 ounces linguine, cooked
- 3 cups turkey*, chopped or shredded
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup ripe black olives, sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large skillet, melt five tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Sauté mushrooms and onion until tender, about 10 minutes. Blend in the flour. Add broth and half and half. Add one cup of the shredded cheese, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cooking sherry. Cook uncovered, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the cooked linguine with black olives, peas, sauce and turkey. Pour into a 13×9 baking dish and top with remaining half cup of cheddar cheese, then parmesan, then panko. (The recipe to this point can be made up to one day ahead.) Melt remaining tablespoon of butter and drizzle over top of casserole. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until bubbling and top is lightly browned.