Valerie Bertinelli’s Make-Ahead Chicken Tetrazzini Is an ‘Easy Dish’ For Busy Weeknights
If you’re looking for a meal that you can make once and have for meals throughout the week, Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli has got you covered with her easy Chicken Tetrazzini casserole.
What you’ll need for Bertinelli’s Chicken Tetrazzini
You’ll need to have on hand for this recipe (quantities can be found here): ziti, unsalted butter, canola oil, boneless skinless chicken breasts, cauliflower florets, an onion, cremini mushrooms, garlic, flour, white wine, chicken broth, heavy cream, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, frozen peas, fresh thyme, and canned green chiles.
The Food Network star posted about this great weekday meal recipe on Instagram saying, “I’ve been craving my deliciously creamy “Make-Ahead Chicken Tetrazzini,” so, this week, I’m not only making enough for dinner, I’m cooking enough for left-overs! If you need an easy dish to get you through a couple of meals, this yummy dish is the one! Recipe link in bio!”
How to put this quick recipe together
Begin by cooking a pound of ziti pasta in a pot of boiling water. Once it’s just al dente, strain the water out and set the pasta to the side. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
The salt-and-peppered chicken breasts are sauteed in a pan “with a little bit of oil and a little bit of butter,” Bertinelli said in the Food Network video for this recipe. Cook the breasts until they’re “nice and golden brown.” Once that’s done, the heat on the pan is switched to low, and it’s time to move on to the mushrooms, onions, garlic, and the cauliflower, seasoning each ingredient as it’s added.
At this point, Bertinelli gets started on the sauce. Flour is added right into the pan with the veggies, followed by the wine, chicken broth, water, and cream. The cream cheese is added, as well as the Parmesan cheese. Frozen peas are sprinkled in and then the can of green chiles. It’s a creamy, colorful dish that’s inviting to the eyes as well as the appetite.
“A couple of sprigs of thyme” are added to the sauce and the chicken, now diced, is added back into the pan.
“So now,” Bertinelli continued, “it just needs one more thing.” The prepared pasta is added to the pan and tossed. Now, all the pan ingredients are moved into a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish and dusted with just a bit more Parmesan cheese. The casserole dish is placed in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until it’s golden and bubbly.
The former One Day at a Time star was impressed with the outcome of the dish: “It looks and smells so good!”
Thumbs-up from reviewers of Bertinelli’s recipe
Food Network fans were wowed by the television personality’s Chicken Tetrazzini’s recipe.
“So easy and so good! My family loved it — even our 11-month-old,” one reviewer said.
Another home cook was impressed with the recipe’s ability to feed and impress so many people, “Perfect make-ahead meal!! I had family coming on a weekday evening. I don’t get home from work until 5:30, so I put it together the night before, popped it in the oven when I got home. The house smelled wonderful as guests arrived for a delicious and hearty, home-cooked meal.”
