Cornish Game Hen Tetrazzini

From inthekitchenwithkath.com

(Adapted from a recipe in the Joy of Cooking, 2006 edition)

Serves 3 – 4, doubles easily

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4 ounces farfalle (you could use spaghetti, which is more traditional, or any other shape)

4 tablespoons butter, plus a bit to butter the baking dish

4 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

¼ cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

¾ cup milk

2 cups cooked Cornish game hen meat, chopped (or chicken or turkey)

¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted*

¼ cup fresh bread crumbs

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

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Preheat the oven to 400˚.

Butter an 8×8 inch baking dish.

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 heaping tablespoon salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Stir the flour into the mushrooms until well blended. Slowly add the chicken broth and milk while stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add the Cornish game hen, almonds, and cooked and drained pasta to the sauce and stir well.

At this point, taste to see if it needs salt; if your chicken broth is salty, it may not need much. I added about 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Put it all into the buttered baking dish.

Combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Distribute evenly over the top of the Tetrazzini.

Bake for 25 minutes.

* To toast the almonds, put in a small, dry pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until lightly toasted. It takes 3 – 4 minutes.