Chicken Tetrazzini

In 2003/2004 I joined an online forum called 'Happy Housewives'. I met some amazing women that I am happy to say I'm still friends with to this day.

One of the ladies that I admired (and still do) is named, Dawn. She is an amazing cook and is one of the inspirations for my passion for cooking. (I'll be mentioning other inspirational women in future blog posts). 

One day on the forum I was complaining about cooking and how much I felt it was such a chore. Dawn told me to "Look at cooking as an act of love, not a chore." Just that little change in attitude made me look at cooking in a different way. I saw how much my family enjoyed eating together. I developed a passion to become more skilled and creative in the kitchen. I'm not perfect by any means but I now view my cooking as an act of love to my family and a creative outlet for me.  As you would imagine, my family loves it.

This recipe was first given to me by Dawn. She also has a blog called 1001 Meatballs Served. On it you can find her Chicken Tetrazzini recipe (that inspired my version) and some others recipes she has. 

Thanks Dawn for the inspiration (and my family thanks you too).  

Dawn always encouraged me to make recipes my own by getting creative.So here is my version of Chicken Tetrazzini 

Ingredients:

• 3c Cooked Chicken breasts, diced
• 1lb Cooked Linguine (Broken in half and boiled 2 minutes less than package directions,rinse, and drained)
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1lb Mushrooms, sliced and rough chopped
• 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 T Italian Seasoning
• 4 T Butter
• 1/2 c White Wine
• 4 Tbsp of Butter
• 1/3 c All Purpose Flour
• 3 c Chicken Stock
• 2 c Heavy Cream
• 1 c Freshly Grated Parmesan
• 4 oz of Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature cut into cubed
• 1 c of Frozen Peas, thawed
• 2 c of shredded asiago cheese
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

For the topping just mix together...

• 1 cup grated or shredded Parmesan
• 1 1/2 cups Bread Crumbs
• 4-6 T of Butter (diced) 

This is how you make this amazing dish...

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, grease a large casserole dish or pan with cooking spray and set aside. 

 In a large dutch oven, add 4T butter and allow it to melt over medium heat, add the mushrooms and shallots, season them with a bit of salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and sauté until they develop a good golden color, about 5 to 7minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, deglaze the pan with the white wine and allow the wine to reduce just a bit.

Add the flour, making sure to stir it in well and cook for about 2 minutes, add the stock and cream.  Simmer on low/medium heat for about 9 to 10 minutes or until the mixture has thickened a little.
Stir in the cream cheese, parmesan and asiago. After the cheeses have melted in the sauce, set aside.
Add the cooked linguine, diced chicken and thawed peas, mix well.

Pour mixture in the prepared baking pan, sprinkle bread crumb mixture and dot the butter evenly over the top.

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

Please give this dish a try. I made it for our life group at church and it was huge hit with everyone. This is a rich, decadent dish that happens to be in Smokin Hot Hubby's top 5 favorites. 

Let me know if you make it. Snapchat: reallifewithlar or tweet me a pic @reallifewithlar

I can't wait to hear how much you like it!

Have a great weekend.

Lar