Tetrazzini and Zeppole- Buon appetito!

Italians love their food and the kitchen is where family and friends cook, eat and bond with each other and what better way to spend an evening than with friends eating good food and drinking great wine? Pam and Michele were coming to dinner and asked for chicken and pasta; I was happy to play it safe since it was my first attempt at cooking them a meal. They came armed with bottles of Chianti and Vernaccia di SanGimignano a Tuscan white dating back to the Renaissance and rumored to be a favorite of Leonardo da vinci's. Pam also brought us Zeppoli, a traditional pastry made by Italian bakers once a year to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph on the 19th of March. The pastry was moist with a rich ricotta filling and topped with whipped cream and a candied cherry. It tasted like a cross between an eclair and a doughnut and definitely worth the calories....

I decided to do an old fashioned Tetrazzini casserole seeing that this long forgotten classic is getting a face lift and making a come-back. Michele happens to be a picky eater and was the butt of many jokes over the past week about being served brains and innards- which I convinced her is my specialty. She didn't know what to make of it and brought along a jar of ready-to-eat food as back up( she insists that that was a joke!). Either way it was a treat to watch the girls clean their plates and ask for seconds and thirds!

A chicken Tetrazzini casserole is a wonderful one pot meal. It involves many steps and is not a dish I would consider simple to prepare, but with a little prep work it is a worthwhile effort.

My recipe for Chicken Tetrazzini Casserole;

1 whole cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken works well)

1 onion, diced

6 cloves garlic

2 cups assorted mushrooms

1 cup wine

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 heaped tablespoon flour

salt and pepper

sprigs of thyme

2 cups milk

1 cup cream

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 cup breadcrumbs with Italian seasoning

cooked linguine

1. Shred the chicken or cut into bite sized pieces. Heat oil in a pan and saute the mushrooms till all the water evaporates and they turn golden. Add in the onion and garlic and saute till fragrant.

2. Add in the wine and simmer till the wine evaporates.

3. In a separate pan, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook briefly, stirring continuously add in the stock and the milk. Stir in the thyme leaves and seasoning and cook till it is thick enough to coat a spoon.

4. Add in the cream and half the cheese. Combine the remaining cheese with the breadcrumbs.

5. In a large bowl combine the chicken, noodles and the mushroom mixture with the sauce. Fill into an oven proof dish and top with the breadcrumb/cheese mixture.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes approximately or until the top is golden and crisp. Rest at room temp for 10 minutes and serve.

Zeppole