A delicious lean twist on turkey tetrazzini

Casseroles can elevate a dish's hassle-factor, but that extra effort usually results in an excellent meal, plus some dandy leftovers. That's a fair tradeoff in my book, especially when it comes to turkey tetrazzini.

There's some debate over who created this creamy noodle dish. Auguste Escoffier's name comes up as the generally accepted tetrazzini originator, yet there's no recipe for the dish in any of his cookbooks. Other's believe San Francisco Palace Hotel chef Ernest Arbogast created it, and since Luisa Tetrazzini, an early 20th-century opera singer and this tasty casserole's namesake lived in San Francisco, Arbogast gets my vote.

What people do agree on is the great tasting casserole includes sherry-flavored whipping cream and plenty of cheese, delivering a high-calorie, big-fat wallop.

Recently thumbing through a 2006 issue of Saveur magazine, I came across a tasty-looking turkey tetrazzini that didn't look like any version I'd seen before. No cream or sherry, but ketchup and cheddar cheese. And the spaghetti cooked in chicken broth along with onion, green pepper and garlic. This got me thinking about how I could slim down this favorite casserole.

When I make turkey tetrazzini, I normally begin with leftover turkey. But without turkey leftovers, preparing a tetrazzini becomes labor intensive (first: roast a turkey). I wanted an easy-to-make tetrazzini and decided to try lean ground turkey. Would it still be as succulent without chunks of roast turkey? I turned to Cook's Illustrated for help on this front.

Wanting to keep the ground beef in an Italian meat sauce both moist and tender, Cook's Illustrated editors used a panade (puh-NAHD). Panade can be made from breadcrumbs, flour or rice combined with water, milk, broth, butter or sometimes egg yolks to make a paste. If you've made meatloaf and combined fresh breadcrumbs with milk, or mixed oatmeal and egg together you used a panade.

I decided that mixing a panade with ground turkey would create a result that exceeded using just ground turkey. But, I still needed to cut down the fat from the cheese.

I've never liked fat-free cheese very much (although it's better now than when it first came out more than 10 years ago). Several cheese makers created reduced-fat cheese from 2 percent milk, but I find these cheeses lack the richness that a full-fat cheese delivers, yet they still bring more flavor and better texture to the table than their fat-free counterparts, so reduced-fat cheese made the cut.

I made my new tetrazzini and while it baked, the aroma that filled my kitchen got my mouth watering, big time. I let it cool slightly, allowing it to become more firm and easier to serve. The ground turkey was certainly moister than it would have been without using a panade, but I admit it wasn't quite as good as roast turkey. I also found that my new tetrazzini tasted even better when served as a leftover later in the week. Give it a try.

New Twist Turkey Tetrazzini

7 cups lower-sodium, fat-free chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press (see note)

1 green bell pepper, core and seeds removed, and finely chopped (see note)

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped (see note)

1 pound spaghetti, uncooked

1 large slice high-quality, whole-grain or white sandwich bread, torn into fourths

2 tablespoons organic whole milk

½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

1¼ pounds ground all-white-meat or very lean turkey

2 cups frozen baby peas, thawed

1 cup reduced-sugar ketchup

1 can (7 ounces) sliced mushrooms (or mushroom pieces and stems)

¼ cup finely chopped drained pimentos

Salt and fresh-ground black pepper

3 cups (about ½ pound) grated 2 percent milk extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Place an oven rack in the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray an 11-by-13-inch casserole with vegetable oil. Set aside.

Combine broth, green pepper, onion, garlic and black pepper in a large pot and over high heat bring to a boil.

While the broth comes to a boil, add bread, milk and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper to a food processor's bowl and process until a paste forms, about eight 1-second pulses. Add ground turkey and pulse until mixture is well combined, about six 1-second pulses. Set aside.

When broth comes to a boil, add spaghetti in broken pieces, reduce heat to medium and gently boil for 9 minutes, stirring often, or until spaghetti is nearly cooked. Add ground turkey mixture, peas, ketchup, mushrooms and pimentos and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, breaking up the turkey with the edge of a spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Transfer spaghetti mixture to prepared casserole dish, top with grated cheese. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Set casserole aside to cool slightly, and then serve.

Serves eight.

Cook's notes: Garlic cloves can be dropped down the feed tube of a running food processor and, when minced, the green pepper and onion may then be placed in the processor bowl to be finely chopped. Take care not to overprocess.

Nutrition values per serving: 472 calories (22.7 percent from fat), 12.5 g fat (4.6 g saturated), 63.4 g carbohydrate, 4.5 g fiber, 34.1 g protein, 57 mg cholesterol, 1,066 mg sodium.

SaltSense: You can reduce the sodium further by selecting no-salt-added ketchup and reduced-sodium cheese.