We may receive a commission when you make a purchase from one of our links to sites such as eBay and others. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for support!
This vintage handwritten recipe for turkey tetrazzini is another recipe found in the Ohio Art floral recipe box.
This recipe uses two different well recognized brands – Parkay margarine and Velveeta Process Cheese.
While this may be a minor detail to most people, it really helps date the recipe because Parkay margarine was only a Kraft Foods brand from 1937 to 1995, before being sold to Nabisco Brands and then later to its current owner ConAgra Foods.
Velveeta was has been a Kraft brand since 1927, so we can guess this recipe probably originated at some point between 1937 and 1983, with our best guess being it probably appeared in a magazine sometime in the 1970’s or 1980’s.
Hopefully we will learn more about the history of this recipe at some point! I frequently get old vintage magazines, so who knows, maybe I will get lucky one of these days and find the original recipe printed somewhere.
The main ingredients of this recipe are as follows:
- Onion Slices
- Margarine
- Velveeta Process Cheese
- Cubed Turkey
- Milk
- Mushrooms
- Pimento
- Spaghetti
What is a Tetrazinni?
Of course, you may be wondering what exactly is a tetrazinni. It is defined as this, by Wikipedia:
Tetrazzini is an American dish made with diced poultry or seafood and mushroom in a butter/cream and cheese sauce flavored with wine or sherry. It is served hot over linguine, spaghetti, egg noodles, or some other types of pasta, garnished with parsley, and sometimes topped with breadcrumbs, almonds, canned fried onions, or cheese (or a combination)
Wikipedia
According to Wikipedia, “no universal standard exists” – though this would probably be classified as a “shortcut” tetrazinni since it makes use of processed cheese.
This recipe is also missing the cooking wine or sherry!
Here is the back of the recipe card for the Turkey Tetrazinni:
It may not be a “true tetrazinni” but it sure does sound tasty! I think this would be a great recipe to use up Thanksgiving day or Christmas leftovers!
If you’ve ever made a whole turkey you know how you always need good recipe for turkey leftovers!
Of course, if you don’t want to use spaghetti, you could always use different kinds of noodles. Here are some other options to consider:
- Penne
- Rotini
- Egg Noodles
- Macaroni
This would probably even be good served with rice instead of noodles, although it would definitely NOT be a tetrazinni then.
Don’t have turkey? You could always substitute chicken!
I hope you enjoy making this recipe, and of course if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you in the comments section below!
Turkey Tetrazzini With Velveeta
Ingredients
- 1 cup onion slices
- 1 tablespoon margarine or butterAdd
- ½ lb. processed cheese spread cubed {Velveeta}
- 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 can mushrooms {4 oz.}
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped pimento
- 7 oz spaghetti cooked and drained
Instructions
- Saute onion in butter or margarine.
- Add cheese spread, turkey, milk, mushrooms, pimento and seasonings.
- Heat over low heat until cheese is melted.
- Combine sauce and spaghetti to serve and enjoy.