Name: Reduced-Fat Chicken Tetrazzini
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Ingredients: 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into 3/4-inch pieces; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 slice hearty white sandwich bread, torn into quarters; 7 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese; 2 1/4 teaspoons salt; 3/4 teaspoon pepper; 5 ounces spaghetti, broken in half; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 8 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin; 1 onion, chopped fine; 1 cup frozen peas; 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth; 2 tablespoons dry sherry; 3 ounces Neufchâtel cream cheese

Why This Recipe Works

Most people think of Chicken Tetrazzini as a leftover dish, but using already cooked chicken leaves you with dry, tough meat. We began by marinating raw chicken in soy sauce to infuse it with flavor. As for the fat and calorie-loaded creamy sauce, we shaved off nearly 200 calories by replacing heavy cream with a mixture of chicken broth, dry sherry, and pasta water for fluidity and a small amount of nutty Parmesan and cream cheese for flavor and body respectively.

Before You Begin

You can substitute 2 cups of cooked chopped turkey for the chicken, omitting the marinade and the simmer in step 4.

Instructions

Combine chicken and soy sauce in zipper-lock bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Pulse bread, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in food processor until finely ground, 8 to 10 pulses.

Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large saucepan. Add pasta and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook, stirring often, until just al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to saucepan. Toast flour in 12-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Whisk flour into reserved cooking water; set aside.

Melt butter in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in peas and add mixture to saucepan with pasta.

Add broth and sherry to now-empty skillet, scraping up browned bits. Stir in reserved flour mixture, cream cheese, and remaining 5 tablespoons Parmesan and bring to boil, whisking until smooth. Add chicken and simmer until exterior of chicken is opaque, about 1 minute. Add chicken mixture to pasta mixture and toss until combined. Scrape into 8-inch-square baking dish and top with bread crumb mixture. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve.