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| Baked Pasta Florentine |
Fresh noodles tossed with a rich and creamy spinach sauce, topped with melted mozzarella and cheddar. Pasta Florentine is one of those dishes that can be prepared with store-bought components, but can have considerably less sodium (and fewer hard-to-pronounce things) if you make them yourself. Fresh egg noodles are very easy to make, and give an opportunity to sneak in whole wheat flour. Instead of opening a jar, this creamy sauce is made with spinach and fresh milk. Each component is quite simple and can be made ahead of time.
The prep time can be shortened if you are "distraction-free" and can multitask, but that's not how it really went at our house, either. Barney the Dinosaur can only hold the attention of the boys for so long. Here are the steps, broken down:
10 oz package frozen spinach
2tbsp chopped onion
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 cup oregano
1 tsp lite salt (omit for further sodium reduction if needed.)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp unbleached wheat flour, tapioca flour or arrowroot flour
2 cups milk
whole wheat egg noodles, cooked (recipe below) or gluten free noodles
1 cup shredded blend of mozzarella and cheddar
