It’s the Monday after derby here in Kentucky and we just finished up the last of the hot brown casserole I made Saturday. For one, there’s nothing better than leftovers after a busy Monday. But when your leftovers are even better than the day you made it, it says something about that dish.
I’ve made a good handful of hot browns and I always use the base of one recipe, from The Brown Hotel here in Kentucky. That reminds me, I still need to go have a hot brown there. You can find their original recipe by clicking here.
It’s hard to believe, but I’ve figured out a way to not only make a hot brown easier but I’ve managed to create one that’s even better. Now this is just Isaac’s opinion as well as mine, but it’s better than the original recipe.
We had a Kentucky Derby party a few years ago, you can read all about it here, and I had to find a way to serve hot browns to a crowd. Before this, I had made each hot brown in an individual pan and it can be time consuming when you’re making more than two. I began to search for a hot brown casserole recipe, but none were looking up to par for us. This is when I decided to create my own Kentucky Hot Brown Casserole recipe!
I basically took The Brown Hotel’s recipe and tweaked it a bit, then figured out how to make it work in a casserole dish. The result is a creamy, cheesy, stick to your ribs dish that is nothing short of divine.
3 T butter
3 T all-purpose flour
3 C heavy whipping cream (1 1/2 pints)
1 C Pecorino-Romano cheese, plus extra for garnish
1/2 t ground nutmeg
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 pounds turkey breast (from deli sliced for sandwiches, I use Boar’s Head)
loaf of French bread from deli, sliced into 1/2″ pieces (you can also use sourdough or any hearty bread)
1 pound of bacon, cooked and sliced thin
3-4 large tomatoes, sliced into 1/4″ pieces (discard end pieces)
1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 dish, be sure it’s a fairly deep dish.
In a medium saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined to form a thick paste or roux. Continue to cook roux for 2 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk heavy cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino-Romano cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Taste and add more seasoning, if needed.
In your 9 x 13 dish make one layer of bread, filling as much as the bottom of the dish as possible. Layer the turkey on top of the bread. Pour the Mornay sauce slowly over the turkey. Layer the sliced tomatoes on top of the turkey.
Bake until the Mornay sauce is bubbling and all ingredients are heated through, about 20 minutes. If you’d like, you may broil your dish at this point. Turn your broiler on high and don’t walk away! It will only take about 5 minutes for the Mornay sauce to begin to brown.
Remove dish from oven. Top with sliced bacon pieces, enough parsley to cover the dish, and shred some additional Pecorino-Romano cheese on top.
Enjoy with a mint julep and some derby pie for dessert!
This dish is definitely made more than once a year in our house and even the twins love it. I mean, what’s not to love?
