Baked Florentine Pasta

 

This one was a GEM. Nice and easy, finished up under the broiler, and oh so good! Nice and cheesy just like a casserole should be, and that’s even using low fat dairy so it’s not a calorie splurge, can you believe it? I cut a whole huge 9x13 into 8 dinner servings and they were only 315 calories each!

A note on the spinach - how much?? Well. Lots! Fresh spinach really cooks down. I used two Sam’s Club bags of fresh spinach, and they were huge. Bulk bags. My original recipe called for 2 10oz bags. However much you like spinach. Get a lot. 

BAKED FLORENTINE PASTA

Ingredients

16 oz Tinkyada pasta (if you need GF) - I used the spirals to soak up the sauce

4oz Neufchâtel cheese (that’s the lower fat cream cheese, use regular if you can’t find it), softened

3/4C grated Parmesan cheese (3oz)

A bit of ground nutmeg (I didn’t measure)

2C fat free half and half

1T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

Fresh spinach - how much? See note above.

2T flour*

4oz part-skim shredded mozzarella 

Fresh parsley, for garnish

*NOTE ON THE FLOUR: if you’re GF, you want to use 1-to-1 GF baking flour or rice flour here. NUT FLOURS WILL NOT WORK.

Preheat your oven to 350. (I forgot this, as usual.)

Coat a 9x13 pan with pan spray. Coat it WELL. Cheese sticks.

Cook your pasta according to package directions, making sure not to cook it past al dente. You don’t want it getting mushy in the oven!

Drain your pasta in a colander and return the pot to the stove.

While the pasta is cooking, mix the cream cheese, Parmesan and nutmeg together as well as you can. I had to use the back of a spoon. Stir in the half and half.  Set aside.

Back to the pasta pot you returned to the stove. 

Add the oil and garlic, and heat until the garlic is fragrant. Add your spinach in batches, and stir until it’s all wilted. (I had to cover the pot and let some of it steam.) Add the two tablespoons flour, stirring it into the spinach until the spinach is coated and the flour pretty much disappears. 

Remove from heat.

I moved it over to the other side of my stove.

Add the pasta back in - run some hot water over it in the colander if it’s started sticking together. 

Add the sauce. Stir until everything is well mixed.

Now comes the tricky part: get all that into your 9x13 without spilling it everywhere.

Top with the mozzarella. Cover tightly with foil, and bake until heated through, 15-20 minutes. 

Take the foil off and turn the broiler on. 

Broil until browned on top - you can see my picture above! - about 4-5 minutes.

Take out of the oven and garnish with parsley to serve.

Servings: I got 8, but they were heaping dinner-size servings. It freezes well!

Calories: 315

Shrimp Scampi

 My grandmother's recipe! This is copied out in my mother's handwriting, so you can see her 'Mama's Recipe' at the bottom - this goes back a ways! Wonderful flavor --

SHRIMP SCAMPI

Ingredients

Finely chopped garlic - LOTS

1 small jar chopped pimento

2 sticks butter (or part olive oil)

3/4 C white wine

Rosemary leaves (crush) - sprinkle lightly

Lemon juice of 2 lemons

Simmer 2 hours (or as long as you can). 

This recipe says for 7, cook 80 shrimp (20-25 count). DO NOT OVERCOOK. Pull the pan off the heat and eat them as soon as they turn pink!

We eat ours over steamed rice. 

White Lasagna with Chicken, Spinach, and Artichokes

 This recipe, the way it was originally, was ONE COLOSSAL MESS. I ended up with a pan and a half of lasagna trying to straighten it out! We had enough for the family and the condo association, both. 

I will try to get the quantities right, but this one will probably still need edited!

WHITE LASAGNA WITH CHICKEN, SPINACH AND ARTICHOKES

Ingredients

14oz chicken broth (or broth base and water, Orrington Farms broth base is gluten free)

1 1/2 C milk (I use 2% for this)

2T cornstarch

Shredded Parmnesan - I used store-bought shredded fresh Parmesan for this, not Kraft grated

4oz cream cheese, softened

1 15oz container ricotta

1 1/2 to 2 C diced cooked chicken, rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken or whatever you've got

1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

Basil, fresh if you've got it (I didn't), plenty out of your spice cabinet if you don't have fresh

1 package gluten free lasagna noodles (good luck!)

Lots of shredded mozzarella. I have no idea how much I wound up using. It's lasagna, after all.

1 8oz package sliced Provolone

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cook your lasagna noodles according to package directions. Bonus points if you were able to find gluten-free lasagna noodles that are oven-ready, that don't need boiled first! But usually, we're just happy enough to find GF lasagna noodles, we'll take whatever we can get.

Make one recipe of Ashley's Italian Wedding Sauce with the chicken broth, milk, and cornstarch in a 4-cup measure. Stir in the Parmesan. I didn't measure. Maybe 3 or 4 ounces? 

In a large bowl, stir together your softened cream cheese, ricotta, chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, and basil. Add a bit of the cream sauce - I used maybe 1/2C? 

Cover your pan with pan spray. This didn't stick too bad, but it is lasagna, after all!

Layer a bit of the sauce, noodles, the chicken mixture, mozzarella, slices of the provolone, and more sauce until all are layered. Cover pan with foil.

Bake 45 minutes and remove the foil.

I baked it about another 15 after that. The recipe said another 25. Whatever looks right! You want it a little browned and bubbly.