Chicken Tetrazzini

My husband is not a picky eater. In fact, he is generally perfectly happy to eat most anything for dinner after work.Very rarely has he ever criticized or complained about my cooking. This is quite a blessing to me except that it can make me rather lazy. Why attempt culinary excellence if my husband is completely content with culinary mediocrity?

At the same time, though, I go through stages of boredom, feeling like I am repeating the same old dinners over and over again. During one of these stages, desperate for a new recipe, I paged through my Betty Crocker's Cookbook. I stumbled across the recipe for Chicken Tetrazzini and it quickly became one of our family's favorites.

This recipe turned into one of my "go to" recipes. I have served this dish to many people and it has always received incredibly high ratings (indicated by the cleaned plates and returns for seconds or even thirds). Even kids love it!

So what is the recipe? Here is my version modified from Betty Crocker's Cookbook.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1 package (7 ounces) spaghetti, broken into thirds
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whole milk (recipe calls for whipping cream, but I don't normally have that on hand)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I normally guesstimate and sometimes use yummy rotisserie chicken)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook spaghetti as directed on package.

3. While spaghetti is cooking, melt butter in 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, garlic salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and whole milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

4. Drain spaghetti. Stir spaghetti and chicken into sauce. Pour spaghetti mixture into ungreased 2-quart casserole (I like to use an 11 x 7 Pyrex baking dish, except when making a double batch like tonight. Hence the larger pan pictured above).

5. Sprinkle with cheese. (This is key! The more cheese the yummier. The cheese makes a delicious crunchy layer on the top. Don't try and skimp on calories by skipping the cheese!)

6. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until bubbly in center.

Enjoy!!! This makes a perfect meal with bread and a salad. Yum!