I don't know how much trouble you want to go to. I made this for a dinner this week and people raved about it. It makes a LOT. More than enough for the six to eight people it claims it makes IMHO. I used spaghetti instead of the linguine and omitted the peas.

Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe
courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

serves 6 to 8
9 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk, room temperature
1 cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature
1 cup chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 ounces linguine
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup dried Italian-style breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Spread 1 tablespoon of butter over a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Melt 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil in a deep large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the hot pan and cook until pale golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool slightly. Coarsely shred the chicken into bite-size pieces and into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil to the same pan. Add the mushrooms and saute over medium-high heat until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms become pale golden, about 12 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it evaporates, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the bowl with the chicken.

Melt 3 more tablespoons butter in the same pan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, broth, nutmeg, remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Increase the heat to high. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 9 minutes. Drain. Add the linguine, sauce, peas, and parsley to the chicken mixture. Toss until the sauce coats the pasta and the mixture is well blended.

Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Stir the cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the pasta. Dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top and the sauce bubbles, about 25 minutes.

Linda I immediately thought of a Chicken Pot Pie type dish spooned over pasta. We served this at the Yacht Club I belonged to many, many times. Usually we made it as part of a fundraiser dinner which catered to the snowmobilers on the lake. Always a sell out.

Just make up a huge pot of what you would put into Pot Pie, chicken, creamy gravy, carrots and peas. Serve over bow tie pasta. It's really delicious and seasonal!

Actually I have done al a king for a large crowd too. Same idea but served over puff pastry shells. The shells can be cooked in advance. They hold beautifully and don't even need to be reheated, however I think the cost of the shells may be prohibitive.

Great idea.....and I'll bet it would be really good served over biscuits....and they are easy for a mob....
But I wonder if I served that and a Jo marzotti tybe of stuff....if people would take half of one and half of the other?....Nope....easier to just do one thing....
I was thinking of a tossed salad....but ice berg lettuce is through the roof!! It was $2.09 a head at Wally World...no less...Gack!
So....what other sides? Typically it's bread a "main"...be it casserole or whatever and a salad....sometimes we have served fruit salad....but I prefer green salad with a hot casserole.
And!! I can buy and use whole chickens and it will be a lot cheaper than the breasts only...I might even pad it with extra leg quarters!!
Good idea!
We could bake tons of biscuits the day before....warm them and split and pile on the chicken stuff and call it upside down pot pie....but how would you serve that to 85 doddering old folks?
Or would you pile the hot pasta into a 9 by 13....top with the goop and put it on the table?
I can easily see this if we were plating individual plates....but...
Also we have about 8 electric roasters at the church...so we could keep things hot in them.... and be cooking the next round of pasta while serving the first....
Thanks! Now? Sides? my instinct says cabbage slaw...but I don't think it would go with the chicken stuff....
Maybe skip a salad and do green beans....or bite the bullet and buy lettuce....will only cost about $7 more than usual...so that's not a biggie...
Thanks!
Linda C

Agree, cabbage salad does not work...

Not sure about your area but beets are dead cheap here right now...ooops sorry about the dead ref....

A beet salad would be great as a side. If not then lettuce is the only other thing I can think off that goes.

Linda, On the how to freeze pot pie thread, I had just posted that my mom (she was a very old fashioned, basic cook & very good ) always used biscuits on the tops of her pot pies. I use the canned ones. I think you could layer the hot bow tie pasta, then the hot pot pie mixture , then the biscuits on top (already baked) in the roasters or warmers and serve with a large spoon / ladle. It will look nice and the smaller pasta will be easier for the old folks to handle. All this can be prepared ahead if your roasters can maintain the temp.
A green salad & maybe a fruit salad and you are set.

Sharon....I believe I am the only person I know that would eat beet salad.
The problem with layering in the roasters is I am not familiar with how well they hold a temperature.....so I wouldn't want to use them for anything I couldn't stir around. I did scorch a ham once.
Keep the ideas coming!
I have about settled on the usual salad of ice berg lettuce, baby spinach, shredded red cabbage and shredded carrot...looks beautiful...even though it lacks onion to me! I serve it with home made dijon, honey, balsamic olive oil oregano and pepper vinaigrette.
To make it different I could cook up some garbonzo beans and add...LOL!
Linda C

There isn't a doddering person that I know that wouldn't love green beans or carrots as a side dish. (Yeah, I would prefer a salad too, but I'm just throwing it out there.)

Well....she died this afternoon...so some sort of a meal is a reality. The thing is do they want a 1:30 service with coffee, tea sandwiches and cookies or will they do the service at 11 with a lunch afterwards? I'll know tomorrow.
I hear ya Woodie...and know it's true....and likely they would love that green bean casserole....but I just can't!!!! LOL! Especially with a creamy chicken thing.
Linda C

We know one person that would pass up carrots as a side. :o)

I was on Chases first thought..pot pie filling served over biscuits.

Linda, everytime I make this casserole, its gobbled up. I got it from an old "pull-out" from a magazine (probably back in the 80's), but I still like it now as much as I did back then. It would be easy to make in the quantity you would need.

Cauliflower-Ham Au Gratin

4 cups partially cooked cauliflower
1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked ham
1 can (11 oz) condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup (I make my own cheese sauce)
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup Bisquick baking mix
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange cauliflower in greased rectangular dish; sprinkle with ham.

Beat soup and milk (or prepare your own cheese sauce); pour over ham. Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

Bake until topping is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
8 servings.

Barb

Linda,
If you still want salad, I would go to Sam's Club. You can get the big bags of lettuce very reasonably. And I'm sure whatever you end up making will be very much appreciated.

Tracey

barb--thanx alot for that recipe! i will be cooking a fresh ham sometime this weekend and i'm always happy to see new ways to use the leftovers--that recipe appeals alot to me!

as always linda, i think it's so great that you are willing to do this for the friends in your community! i can't imagine the time you have put into these lunches over the last year or so.

i didn't stay around after the service i went to in MA yesterday, but i got a follow-up note from my friend this morning. her son was about to be baptized into their faith and she said the greek ladies served an entire meal to 100 to 125 people! they had baked stuffed haddock, rice, greek salad and, the women had baked trays of various dessert items, if you can imagine such a thing! in any case, i think tracey has a great idea and i'd be doing the bags of salad greens too. i think it's a great convenience food! good luck with whatever you decide and i'm sorry i can't be there to help...

Sounds like a wonderful meal, san! And sounds expensive!!
I try to keep costs to absolutely under $2 per person and I am a lot more comfortable with $1.50...and have even done a few for about $1 per person....but that was when I found a great deal on ham and the church had a lot of pasta from another thing. No way could we afford stuffed haddock!
We cound on donations from the family to keep this service from costing the church anything. Most families donate between $200 and $300 regardless of whether we serve a meal for 50 or 150 people. A couple of families have stiffed us altogether...but the generosity of other's have made it possible for us to tell a few families not to even think about trying to make a donation to cover costs...we knew money was tight.
Nope....queen of the penny pinchers and reduced for quick sale items here!!
I insist on real butter, high quality olive oil, real garlic, real cream for coffee and mostly fresh veggies, but am vry willing to buy day old bread and "cook tomorrow or freeze" meats...and I am willing to cook an uncooked ham and pick meat from a whole chicken!
Hmmm....ham loaf...speaking of day old bread....there is a freezer full of day old bread slices that have spent time on the table, but would be perfect in a meat loaf....
Hmm......ham loaf, scalloped potatoes, and either salad or green beans....hmmmmm...
What can I make out of stale bread but bread pudding, cheese strata or crumbs?
Linda C

oh i'm sure it was pricey all right--i can't imagine! i was just really surprised by the whole menu.

i don't think you want to be making pounds of croutons but that's the first thing that came to my mind. i'd love a cheese strata, though!