Turkey Broccoli Alfredo Bake

Last night was one of those nights that I didn't really feel like cooking, but I was really hungry and didn't want to settle for something packaged. I had a ton of leftover turkey in the fridge from Sunday and figured I'd better put it to good use. I found a recipe for Chicken Alfredo and Rice Casserole, but I had only a few of the ingredients. So I used what I had and the result was delicious! Here's what I used.

1 cup rice, cooked (2 1/2 - 3 cups cooked rice)

10 oz Alfredo pasta sauce (I used Bertolli)

1/2 cup milk

2 cups cooked, cubed turkey

1 cup frozen broccoli

1 carrot, grated

1-2 slices of bread, crumbled

1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 Tbs butter, melted

Preheat oven the 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine rice, Alfredo sauce, milk, turkey, broccoli, and carrot. Transfer to 2 qt baking dish. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and stir. Combine bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle on top. Bake, uncovered, 20 to 25 minutes longer until heated through and crumbs are golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve with crispy Grissini breadsticks.

Maybe the two kind of bread crumbs sounds dumb, but I really liked it. It was like the larger bread crumbs got breaded in the smaller bread crumbs. (Like I said, I used what I had.)

The great thing about this recipe is that, really, you could probably substitute just about anything you did want for anything that you didn't want.

Secret Ingredient Casserole

Here we are, at the edge of discovery. As I promised, here is my secret ingredient casserole. I'll hold your hand as we make it. First, let's start with 1 chopped green bell pepper, 1 small chopped onion, and 2-3 large russet potatoes, quartered lengthwise and sliced thinly. And I mean thinly people, they'll bake quicker.

Nothing scary so far, right? Right. Now let's add a can of sliced mushrooms, drained. I used stems and pieces because they're less expensive and I don't much care. I suppose that if you want to use fresh mushrooms, you may. I didn't happen to have any. Now grease a casserole, I used a 3-qt oval dish. You'll want to layer the potatoes, onion, pepper and mushrooms. Season in between layers with salt and pepper.

Keep layering until all of your veggies are nicely arranged in your casserole.Are we still doing okay? Great. Now you need a can of cream of mushroom soup and some milk. Pour the soup into a bowl, then fill the soup can with milk - stir it up a bit in there to get out that last little bit of soup. Have your little kitchen helper add the milk to the soup in the bowl and whisk together until well blended. Little hands like this part.

Once it's all mixed together pour it over your veggies. Mmm. that's looking pretty good.

Now, you are ready for the secret ingredient. At least, I think you're ready. Are you ready? Are you? If you keep reading you have to promise me that you won't NOT make this recipe just because you have preconceived notions about this ingredient. Promise? Promise?

Okay then, take a deep breath and say it with me....

You promised! Don't go back on your word! That's right, it's Spam Casserole. Go ahead and take a minute to let it sink it. Then gather your courage and open that pop-top can of smoked, meaty(?) goodness. Once you've gotten over the "shock of the block," shred it...right over the top of your veggie mixture. Of course, eating the uncooked shreds by the handful is optional and will most likely only be attempted by those in the "connoisseurs of all meats processed" category.

I didn't take a picture of the topping before baking because even I'll admit it does not look appetizing. Try to get past that because when it bakes up the Spam topping gets all crispy and bacon-like. It's really good.

So anyway, if you've been bold enough to go ahead and try this recipe, heat your oven to 375 degrees and bake the casserole for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the potatoes are baked through. Just to let you know, I didn't have ANY leftovers. The kids ate it and my husband and I each had several helpings. My daughter kept sneaking the crispy topping onto her plate.