Chicken Tetrazzini, minus gobs of butter
| • | Chili supreme |
By Elaine Magee
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Q. One of my husband's favorite casseroles is chicken tetrazzini. I've been making the recipe on the Martha Stewart Web site but it calls for gobs of butter. My husband and I are trying to eat healthier these days. Can you fix this recipe up?
A. MarthaStewart.com calls this recipe their "freezer-friendliest" chicken recipe. This is a beautiful thing when you have some busy weeknights coming up. The idea of moving the casserole from the freezer to the refrigerator before work so it's ready to bake after work can be liberating.
The original recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of butter, two of which are used to saute the mushrooms and four to make the white sauce. We are keeping the two tablespoons but switching to olive oil and we are completely losing the 4 tablespoons for the white sauce. You don't need any of the butter when you blend the flour with some of the milk to make a paste and then whisk in the rest of the milk and sauce ingredients. The other big switch is using whole wheat or whole-grain blend linguine noodles to boost the fiber and nutrients. The original recipe called for a shocking 3 cups of Parmesan cheese; half that much is fine, lowering the sodium per serving along with the grams of fat and saturated fat.
The original recipe makes 8-10 servings and is designed to fill two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. I've changed the recipe to make 4-5 servings, but if you want to make that second dish, just double the recipe below.
WHOLE GRAIN CHICKEN TETRAZZINI
Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Coat a shallow 2-quart baking dish with canola cooking spray.
In large, nonstick saucepan, bring salted water to boil and add the noodles. Follow directions on package for al dente noodles. Once the noodles are lightly cooked, drain them and return the noodles to the large saucepan and set aside.
Meanwhile, begin heating olive oil over medium-high heat in medium, nonstick saucepan and add sliced mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are nicely browned (about 6 minutes). Spoon the mushrooms into the large saucepan with the noodles.
To make white sauce, in same medium saucepan, whisk flour together with 1/2 cup of the fat-free half and half or lowfat milk to make a paste. Slowly whisk in the remaining milk. Start bringing this mixture to a boil over medium heat. Slowly whisk in broth and wine while mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir in the Parmesan cheese and thyme. Add pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon).
Pour the white sauce over the noodle and mushroom mixture and stir in the chicken and peas. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish and bake uncovered until browned and bubbling (about 30 minutes).
Makes 5 servings.
• Per serving: 418 calories, 34 g protein, 47 g carbohydrate, 9.5 g fat, 3.8 g saturated fat, 4.1 g monounsaturated fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 6 g fiber, 498 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 20 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .2 g, Omega-6 fatty acids = 1 g. Weight Watchers POINTS = 8 (Original recipe contained 535 calories, 19 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, and 90 mg cholesterol per serving.)
To freeze casserole: Cool to room temperature and cover dish tightly with foil, freeze. Thaw casserole in the refrigerator for several hours. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes then remove cover or foil and bake to brown the top (about 20 minutes more.)
