TURKEY TETRAZZINI (OR MUSHROOM TETRAZZINI)

½-¾ pound spaghetti, broken in half 

sea salt 

white pepper 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter 

1 clove garlic, minced 

½ onion or shallot, finely chopped 

 ½ - 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 

optional 1 rib celery, small cubes 

2 tablespoons flour 

1-½ cup turkey, chicken or veg broth 

⅓ cup dry sherry 

⅓ cup heavy cream 

nutmeg 

3-5 cups cubed turkey 

¼ cup frozen peas, optional 

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley  

1 cup panko ½ cup parmesan or pecorino romano 

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 

sweet paprika 

Heat the oven to 350°F Prepare an 8 x 8 inch pan smeared with butter. 

Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente. Remove and drain. 

Melt 2 tablespoons butter then sauté garlic, onion , celery, and mushrooms. Cook about 5 minutes, stir occasionally. 

 Make the Velouté sauce: Melt 2 tablespoons butter, add 2 tablespoons flour, stir to make a tan roux. Add 1 cup broth, sherry, and the heavy cream. Simmer until thickened. Add salt and white pepper. Nutmeg. Add turkey, mushroom and celery mixture, peas, oregano, and parsley. Taste for salt and pepper. If too thick add more liquid. You need 2-½ cups of sauce.  

 Turn the spaghetti into the prepared pan and top with the sauce, mix lightly. The spaghetti will soak up the sauce. If you like it really creamy you could even double the sauce so that the spaghetti seems to be swimming in it. 

 Mix the panko with parmesan and oil. Sprinkle on top. Tap down gently. 

 Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes until bubbly and slightly brown on top. Cool 10 

 Cut portions with a knife, especially if the spaghetti is long. 

 You can freeze this recipe before baking. 

To make it vegetarian use more mushrooms and use a mushroom broth and eliminate the turkey.

RED BELL PEPPER KETCHUP

 

RED BELL PEPPER KETCHUP

© Phyllis Segura 2021

8 red bell peppers, roasted

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder or dust

½ cup brown sugar, plus

2 tablespoons Tamarind concentrate

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup cane sugar

black pepper

salt

cayenne pepper, optional

small handful of dark raisins, optional

Makes 1-1/2 cups

• Start with the red peppers. Broil them to blacken and blister. Cover a large sheet pan with aluminum foil and broil, turning frequently with tongs, to blacken and roast all sides. When the peppers are blackened all around place them in a large bowl and cover it with a cloth. Leave to cool. When cool, take out the seeds and take off the skins. Don’t do it under running water because you will lose all the nice oils. You do have to run some water on some of the persistent seeds, and for your hands. You do this peeling and seeding with your hands.

• Put all the cleaned peppers into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients up to the honey. Tomatoes have a lot of sugars, but bell peppers don't, so I added more brown sugar as I tasted. Once you have that done take out your blender.

• Put the concoction into the blender in batches and pour the cold puree into a pot. Heat the puree slowly. If it starts to bubble and spit, lower the heat. Stir now and then. Once it gets hot and the spices start to meld together, start tasting it. I added a small handful of raisins at the end to cook in. They melted nicely. You will probably want to add more sweetness so at that point add the honey and some cane sugar. You’re trying to approximate the aftertaste of ketchup here. Probably if you follow the measurements here you will be alright, but everyone has different taste…so little by little adjust the brew to yours. Cook until it thickens to your satisfaction.

•

        Taste and see if it has the right ratio of sweet to sour – agrodolce. Remember that once the finished product sits for a day or so in the refrigerator the flavors will meld and taste slightly differently than what it is now. I added some cayenne a few times and once at the end. Probably just the slightest amount works best. Pour the hot ketchup into a pourable container. I used a Pyrex 4 cup measuring cup and it worked well.

• Pour the ketchup back into the blender for a final spin and mix.

• Find some nice jars and boil them with their caps to sanitize. Leave in the hot water for a    few minutes. Or use whatever technique you know. Using a funnel, fill the jars.

• Cover the jars and let the ketchup cool before storing in the refrigerator. It’s always a good idea to label and date the final product. There are too many times I take an unlabeled jar            out of the fridge and ponder what it is. I don’t always figure it out. 

• It’s all guesswork. I’m wondering if it will come out the same the next time. Since this isn’t a commercial venture, it doesn’t really matter all that much because it would get close.

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