The Best Leftovers Casserole

Lennie's Note:

I created this dish to use up the last 4 cups of leftover Christmas turkey I had on hand, and I think I have a winner! Substitute cooked chicken and chicken broth for the turkey if you wish, and the dish can be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock and substituting more veggies for the turkey. You could also make this dish kosher by using vegetable stock and substituting imitation crab for the turkey. Note: While the serving size states "10", expect this to serve 5 or 6 people at just one meal if you think everyone will go for seconds.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese (I think swiss would also be good)
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 lb mushroom, sliced thickly
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups cooked cubed turkey
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups homemade turkey broth (chicken or vegetarian can be substituted)
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream (NOT lowfat)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 dash freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash freshly grated black pepper
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumb
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. First, grate mozzarella cheese; set aside.
2. Next, put on a large pot of salted water to boil; when boiling, cook elbow macaroni until almost tender; drain, then return to pot; set aside.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F; spray a large casserole dish (I used a deep 13x9 pan) with nonstick spray like Pam and set aside.
4. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the 1 tbsp of butter and add oil; saute mushrooms, onion and garlic until mushrooms are tender; drain off any liquid and add to cooked macaroni; stir.
5. Add cooked turkey cubes to mushroom/pasta mixture; stir.
6. In a large pot, melt the 1/2 cup butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour; whisk constantly for about one minute or until butter and flour are well combined.
7. Whisk in turkey stock (preferably made from Rescued Turkey Stock Rescued Turkey Stock), sour cream and wine.
8. Note that lowfat or nonfat sour cream may not be able to stand up to the constant heat without breaking down; that is why fullfat sour cream is recommended.
9. Over medium heat, whisking constantly, cook mixture until sauce thickens up; add nutmeg, salt and pepper.
10. Add all but one cup of the sauce to the pasta mixture, and stir well.
11. Set aside a good handful of the shredded mozzarella, then stir remaining mozzarella into pasta mixture.
12. Fill prepared casserole dish with pasta mixture, then drizzle reserved cup of sauce over top, then sprinkle with reserved mozzarella cheese.
13. Combine fresh breadcrumbs and melted butter, then sprinkle over casserole, then top with the parmesan cheese.
14. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes; casserole will be quite bubbly.
15. Serve with a green salad and the wine you used in the sauce.

Reviews

[Marty Fredericks]

Wow! Was this GOOD! The only change I made to it was to use leftover ham from a spiral-cut, honey-baked ham and beef broth from a can instead of turkey broth and it came out fan-tas-tic! I'm sure I will be using this recipe for a lot of other leftovers. Kudos to Lennie!

[HeatherFeather]

Very good!I used chicken that I had poached earlier in white wine. A very hearty casserole - this would be more than enough for hungry guests and an excellent use of leftovers. Where I found this somewhat lacking was in color and texture - it is all very tan colored and I kept thinking how I would enjoy some green onions and perhaps some bell pepper or other colorful, crunchy veggie in this. I also would punch up the flavor with some fresh herbs such as tarragon or rosemary next time. All in all though, a very good choice when faced with a lot of leftover poultry.