Creamy Turkey and Pasta

Thanksgiving leftovers...  Here is something different from the hot turkey sandwiches and the turkey and stuffing casserole.  We enjoyed this simple and comforting dish.

Image by me.

Creamy Turkey and Pasta
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

• 12 oz rotini
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup turkey or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 package dry onion soup mix (1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups diced turkey

*Cook pasta as usual.
*Dissolve onion soup in water.
*Melt butter and add flour over medium low heat.  Cook until golden.
*Add garlic.
*Slowly add turkey stock, tomato sauce, and water.  Stir until bubbling.
*Add chicken and cheese.  Stir until melted.
*Pour over pasta and stir to mix.

Enjoy!
-C :)

Parmesan Orzo

Generally speaking I am not one to create recipes.  I like to find a recipe and adapt it to suit my taste and my family.  On Saturday I was planning to serve pork tenderloin (marinated in the Korean Chicken marinade), some sort of rice and veggies as a side dish.  Suddenly the day was gone and supper needed to be served.  With no time to cook rice (we are brown ricers around here) I pulled some orzo out and boiled it while scanning my head to see what I could add to it to make it taste good...  A few minutes later Parmesan Orzo was born.

I was very impressed with the taste of this dish.  I was even more impressed with Sam and Gabriel's reaction...  They GOBBLED it up!  Score!

Parmesan Orzo

• 1 cup orzo pasta (uncooked)
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• milk or cream or half and half

1.  Boil the pasta as usual.
2.  While draining the pasta melt the butter in the cooking pot.
3.  Add pasta back in and stir to coat with butter.
4.  Sprinkle with parmesan (add more if needed).
5.  Pour in some milk (start with 1/4 cup) and stir.  Keep adding milk until a creamy sauce is made.  Leave on warm burner to heat.
6.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

The recipe is open for play.  I didn't measure as I was cooking, so definitely taste as you are going along.  You could add some parsley for color or go crazy and saute some onions and garlic.  I needed something quick so I just stuck to the basics.

The boys ate this too fast to take a picture of!  I'll re-post with a picture once I make it again.

Enjoy!
-C :)

Creamy Chicken Lasagna

In our almost 5 years of marriage, there are only 2 meals that Sam has ever requested that we have again, and this is one of them.  Both of the kids love this too!

This dish is relatively simple, but takes a bit of time to get everything together, as most lasagna's do.  Don't be afraid of the spinach.  I do NOT like spinach.  The first time I only put in half and it tasted ok, so I thought I would try it with 2 packages and it was fine!

Creamy Chicken Lasagna
(adapted from HDMac on food.com)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (slightly heaped)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 2 cups cottage cheese
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, for topping

*Boil lasagna noodles until al dente.
*Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic until the mushrooms have lost their water and it has evaporated.

*Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly.

*Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

*Stir in 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.

*Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper.

*Remove from heat and set aside. (The sauce should be fairly thick.)

*Preheat oven to 350.

*Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.

*Cover with 1/3 of the noodles, all the cottage cheese, and all the chicken.

*Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining mozzarella cheese.

*Top with remaining noodles and sauce mixture, and sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

*Bake 45 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this as much as Sam does!

-C :)

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