Turkey Tett...Tettra..Noodles

I have never been able to correctly spell tettrazini (is that right? I have no idea!). I got this recipe about a year ago from someone on the What's Cooking board on the Nest. After adapting it to our needs, is one of our favorites. The original recipe calls for heavy cream but I have always used Fat Free Half and Half (even before WW) and the sauce is very good and gets nice and thick. Last winter we ate this probably once every two weeks but then as warmer weather came and went, we didn't make it so much. I had about a half pound of ground turkey to use up and so I thought I would make this dish. I usually make it with diced chicken but it was equally tasty with ground turkey. Next time I would add a little extra meat though for my husband because he was "fishing" for meat out of the baking dish! I thought it was fine as is. If you do add a bit more ground meat, make sure you adjust points if you are counting. This time I added some bread crumbs for a little crunch on top and it was so good! I will definitely make that a regular addition. You could also add extra veggies to this dish. We've added peppers or broccoli before for extra nutrition, but we didn't have any on hand tonight.



Tettra...Noodles - Ground Turkey style
(source: inspired from someone on the Nest)

1/2 lb ground turkey
2 cloves garlic
PAM
1 (8oz) whole wheat pasta (I used rotini but any would work)
1/4 cup of light margarine
1/4 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup fat free half and half (I use Land of Lakes)
2 tbsp. water I used the water from the noodles
1/8 cup part skim mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp light margarine

Heat Oven to 350. Begin to cook noodles. Brown turkey (chicken, beef whatever you want to use) with 2 diced garlic cloves. Set aside in strainer or additional bowl. While spaghetti is cooking, melt butter in same pan as browned turkey (which is now sitting safely somewhere else) over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, & pepper. Cook, stirring until mixture is smooth & bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth & half and half. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up flour. This step takes a bit of time, don't crank the heat because the flour will burn. Once it boils, stir continue to cook for one minute. Drain noodles and stir the noodles, water, & turkey, and mozzarella cheese into sauce. Pour noodle mixture into ungreased casserole dish. Sprinkle w/ cheese and breadcrumbs. Drop little bits of the 1 tsp of margarine over breadcrumbs to help brown. Bake 30 mins. or until bubbly in center.

Yields 6 servings about 1 1/2 cup each

POINTS per Serving: 7