Recipe Friday: Turkey Casserole

Do you still have leftover turkey? I gathered up a bunch of stuff from the pantry and ‘fridge and cooked this up. Turns out, we like it!
These measurements are guesstimates – I didn’t measure anything. Use up however much turkey you have, throw in however much onion, celery, and carrot you like. (That was too much carrot for me: the picture shows three medium-large carrots, so I pared it down in the recipe.) The measurements I have here make up the 13″ x 9″ baking pan pretty well. [Chicken would also work well.]

I got to thinking that sour cream would be really tasty with this; maybe swirl some around through the top before adding the French onions. We used the sour cream as a condiment when we had some leftover casserole, and it was really good.

Yield: 13″ x 9″ baking pan

Serves: 8
Prep Time: 40 min
Cook Time: 45 min

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 small carrots, scrubbed and diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, with leaves, diced
• 3 cups leftover turkey, diced
• 4 strips bacon, cooked
• 6 ounces broccoli florets, chopped (I used part of a bag of frozen broccoli)
• 6 ounces egg noodles
• 1/4 cup flour (I used barley)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 4 ounces Colby Jack cheese, shredded
•   salt, to taste
• 1 3.5 ounce package French-fried onions

 

Directions:

I used a package of bacon and baked it at 350° until done while I prepped the rest of the meal.
In a medium fry pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Sauté carrots, covered, for a few minutes while you chop the onion, celery, and turkey.
Add onions and celery to the fry pan and sauté until tender. Salt to taste.
Put the diced turkey into a very large bowl. Add the sautéed vegetables to the bowl.
This is when I put the noodles into salted boiling water to cook.
Using the same fry pan, Make the white sauce: melt the remaining butter over medium-low heat. Add some of the bacon fat, if needed. Add the flour, and cook the flour.
Chop the bacon and add to the big bowl.
Add the chopped broccoli to the big bowl.
Add the cooked noodles to the big bowl.
Turn the heat up to medium-high under the white sauce. Cook the flour until it’s nicely brown. Whisk the milk into the butter / flour mixture, keep whisking until it boils and thickens. Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce. This sauce is thick; you can add more milk if you like it thinner. Salt to taste.
Pour the sauce and the shredded cheese into the big bowl. Using a big spatula, mix it all together.
Pour it all into a 9×13″ baking dish. (I buttered the pan first, with the butter wrapper.)
Cover with foil and bake (in the 350° oven) for 30 min.
Uncover, sprinkle with French onions, and bake another 15 minutes.