The original dish is named after the Italian opera star Luisa Tetrazzini. It is widely believed to have been invented circa 1908–1910 by Ernest Arbogast, the chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, where Tetrazzini made her American debut at the Tivoli as Gilda in Rigoletto on January 11, 1905.

A perennial comfort food. And, by its nature, it begs for tinkering to the ingredients on hand, including seasonings and (even more often than chicken) a post-holiday turkey carcass.

Ingredients:

• 1½ Chickens (fryers)
• Water (to cover in the pot)
• 1 tsp. Onion Salt
• ½ tsp. Celery Salt
  ——
• ½ lb. Vermicelli (or similar spaghetti-like pasta)
• Salt
  ——
• 6 tbsp. Butter
• ¾ lb. Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  ——
• 2 tbsp. Flour
• ½ tsp. Paprika
• ½ tsp. Pepper
• ¼ tsp. Nutmeg
• 1 c. Milk
  ——
• 1/3 c. Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

Chicken:  These steps may already have been done (e.g., having a Thanksgiving turkey already broken down and broth made from the scraps and bones; see Notes below for more on this).

1. Place chicken, salts, water in large pan. Simmer covered 30 min, until tender.
2. Remove chicken, save broth.
3. Cool chicken, remove meat from bones, refrigerate.

Pasta:  Reserve 2½ cups of broth from the previous step if that’s when you made the broth.

1. Add water to remaining broth to fill the pan (if the both had previously been made, add a cup of the broth to the pot for making the pasta).
2. Add 2 tbsp. salt.
3. Bring to boil, add pasta. Don’t fully cook; leave it a bit al dente (the pasta will absorb the sauce in the oven).
4. Drain, return to pan or a large bowl.

Mushrooms:

1. In frying pan, heat 3 tbsp. butter.
2. Add mushrooms, sprinkle with lemon juice, ½ tbsp. salt.
3. Sauté until soft but not brown.
4. Put with pasta.

Sauce:

1. Melt 3 tbsp. butter in pan.
2. Stir in flour, paprika, 1½ tsp. salt, pepper, nutmeg. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Slowly stir in reserved broth. Cook until it boils (it will be thin).
4. Add milk.

Put it all together:

1. Mix the pasta, meat, and mushrooms into a large bowl (or a pot you already used).
2. Put the mix into a 9×13 buttered/sprayed baking dish.
3. Pour the sauce over the the dish, wetting everything. The sauce will fill about half or more of the pan. (The pasta’s going to such that up.)
4. Mix everything together in a large bowl. Place in a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese.
5. Bake covered at 400F for 20 minutes.
6. Uncover, add more cheese, before baking another 10 minutes.

Serves: 8-10 if half are ladies. On the other hand, a family of four can polish it off without much trouble.

Prep time: 1:30

Notes:

• This will keep two days refrigerated. Oven heat from the fridge 45 minutes to an hour, until bubbly. Freezes well. As with most casseroles, many folks consider “aging” in the fridge or freezer an improvement over “fresh.”
• If you are dealing with an existing carcass (chicken or turkey), pick the (presumably cooked) carcass from the bones. Use the (meaty) bones in water with with some celery, onions, maybe garlic salt and pepper, to simmer as described to make the broth. The amount of meat you pick off first will determine proportions on the recipe. You can also substitute chicken tenders or boneless breasts.
• Yes, it’s spelled “Tetrazzini,” not “Tetrazini.”

Source: Ann Kleerup Coombs, as tweaked on more than one occasion by Margie.