We’re going down to The Husband’s family’s house in San Diego this year, as I mentioned. Since we don’t cook for the big day (besides the pie, and The Husband has requested one for himself, so we’re fine for apple-pie leftovers), we won’t have a lot of turkey that will last for days. I’m writing this to post post-Thanksgiving so there’s an anti-turkey recipe out there for people to use, if they feel so inclined.
We used to have turkey for days after T-Day when I was a kid, and we’d have turkey sandwiches for the whole next week, creamed turkey on toast, and some weird thing my Mom called “turkey tetrazini”. I think. I just remember something strange with spaghetti and a cream sauce. Wasn’t one of Mom’s more gourmet moments. I miss The Twilight Zone marathons that they used to play on Thanksgiving, but I don’t miss that dish. Or—sorry Mom, the candied yams.
Again, I digress. This is also a pasta dish, but it’s nothing like what I described above. It was a nice combination of some fridge standards that we always try to keep in the door, capers and kalamata olives, and some fresh items, like Swiss chard. I can’t help myself when I get to the pasta area in Whole Foods—that quinoa linguine is just so tasty. I keep buying it because I still can’t believe it’s gluten free.
And to all my vegans and vegetarians out there—this one’s for you. Play around with the recipe; it’s pretty easy to change up and still be delicious. We served with homemade garlic bread and a little salad, But, come to think of it, you could probably throw some shredded turkey into this and it would work very well. It probably wouldn’t even taste like Thanksgiving leftovers. And that’s something to be thankful for.
Oh, and sorry for the lack of photos! I’ll add some later.
A Take on Puttanesca
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 can of chopped, fire-roasted tomatoes
1 Tbs tomato paste
16 kalamata olives
2 Tbs capers, drained
4 large leaves of Swiss chard (I used rainbow)
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili flakes (use more or less, to your taste. 1/2 tsp should be enough for most people)
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt (use sparingly! The capers will add a fair amount of salt)
Pecorino Romano, grated for topping
Linguine for two
This is a fairly easy dish to prepare after you’ve done the prep work. Always start your water on to boil first so you can make sure that dinner arrives at a decent hour.
Sauté the onion in some olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and stir for about 3 -5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the oregano and the chili flakes. Add about 1/3 cup of water and let simmer on low for the time it takes for you to make salad and prep the garlic bread, about 15 minutes.
Add the Swiss chard and cook for another 4 minutes, then add capers and black olives. Simmer on low for another 5-7 minutes as you bake the garlic bread under the grill/broiler. Serve when the bread and pasta are ready.
If you want my extremely simple garlic bread recipe, let me know in the comments and I’ll add it!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading!
tinykitchenstories 
Hi there!
Hmmm, thanks for the quinoa pasta hint, I’ll have to try that when I’m near a whole foods!
It was great to meet you. Looking forward to the blog.
GA
It was great to meet you, too! Thanks for following and commenting–It’s the little things that make me happy!
The quinoa pasta is really spectacular. Let me know if you try it! And keep warm in Spokane.
Turkey Tetrazzini is an old-fashioned leftover-turkey spaghetti casserole named for an opera star of the early 1900s. Recipe below from Thanksgiving 101 (AKA Thanksgiving Bible) by Rick Rodgers.
3 T unsalted butter
10 oz sliced cremini mushies
10 oz pkg froz artichoke hearts, thawed
1/2 C chopped shallots
4 C chopped turkey
1/2 C Manzanillo sherry
1 lb penne
15 oz part-skim ricotta
1 C Parmigano Reggiano frashly grated
1 C heavy cream
3/4 t kosher salt
1/4 t freshly milled black pepper
Preheat to 400*, place rack at top 3rd of oven
Butter 10×15″ baking pan
Melt 2 T butter, add mushies, cook med hi until they begin to brown, 6 min. Stir in artichokes and shallots until they soften, 2 min. Add turkey & sherry until almost evaporated, 5 min.
Cook pasta in lightly salted water until just firm (just this side of al dente), drain well.
Return pasta to warm pot, add turkey, ricotta, 3/4 C Parm, cream, salt & pepper. Mix well.
Transfer to baking dish, sprinkle with remaining Parm, dot with remaining butter. Bake until golden brown, 10 – 15 min. Eat while hot!!!
This kind of turkey even I would eat!
xoxo, Boo
Wondering about Mom’s candied yams. Will post highly edible recipe for those rather soonish. xxx
They just always come out so cloyingly sweet. Please post your recipe! xo
This sounds much, much better than what Mom used to make! Thanks for sharing not only the history, but the recipe. Thanks, Boo!