Rigatoni Florentine Recipes

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the almonds, flour and zest in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar, butter, cream, and honey in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the almond mixture. Cool the batter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie, spoon 8 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart (the cookies will spread). Flatten the batter slightly with your finger.
• Bake the cookies until they are lacy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a rack and cool completely. Transfer the cookies to paper towels. Repeat with the remaining batter, lining the baking sheets with clean parchment for each batch. (The cookies can be made up to this point 2 months ahead. Cool completely, then store airtight in the freezer. Defrost before continuing.)
• Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere. Repeat with the remaining cookies and chocolate.

BAKED RIGATONI WITH EGGPLANT AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat for the pasta. Get yourself a 9 by 13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.
• Heat a 2 count of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and toss in the hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes, you want them nicely browned on the outside but still rare on the inside. Put the sausages in the baking dish.
• Turn the heat down to medium. Add a generous 1/3 cup of oil to the skillet and get it hot. Add as many eggplant pieces as you can comfortably fit in a single layer and sprinkle well with salt. Cook, turning, for 7 to 8 minutes, until the eggplant is nice and browned, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Use a spatula to put the eggplant into the baking dish with the sausage. Cook the rest of the eggplant pieces, adding more oil to the pan, as needed, and putting the finished eggplant into the baking dish.
• Add another 2 count of oil to the skillet, then your onion and garlic, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until translucent. Dump the whole can of tomatoes and their juices into a bowl and crush the tomatoes with your hands to break them up; add that to the pan with the basil and cook it down until pulpy and relatively thick. This will take about 15 minutes.
• By this time your pasta water will be boiling. Add the rigatoni, give it a stir, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, it should be slightly firm as it will cook further in the oven. Ladle out 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve; the drain the rigatoni.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Chop the sausages into nice big, bite-size chunky pieces and return the pieces to the baking dish. Add the tomato sauce, rigatoni, and the reserved pasta water. Break up half the mozzarella over the mixture, season with salt and pepper, and gently mix with your hands or a spatula. Dust with the Parmigiano and drizzle with more olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Spread the remaining mozzarella in an even layer over the top and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

CREAMY RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; saute chicken until no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Add mushrooms to skillet; saute until mushrooms are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic; saute until fragrant and golden, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir spaghetti sauce, half-and-half, and Italian seasoning into mushroom mixture; cook and stir over medium heat until sauce thickens, 10 to 15 minutes. Mix cooked chicken and spinach into sauce and cook until spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes.
• Stir pasta into sauce and add mozzarella cheese; stir until cheese melts. Garnish dish with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Steps:

• Cook rigatoni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the ham, mushrooms, peppers and garlic in oil until vegetables are tender. , Stir in the broth and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 3 minutes. Drain rigatoni and rinse in cold water. Add pasta and spinach to the ham mixture; toss to coat. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Steps:

• Cook rigatoni as directed. Drain; rinse with hot water.
• Cook spinach as directed, drain well and squeeze out excess water.
• In a large saucepan, combine milk, ricotta cheese, garlic powder, ham and cooked spinach; mix well.
• Cook, stirring constantly until heated through. Remove from heat. Fold in rigatoni and place in a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and reserve.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through and no longer pink inside. Add garlic to skillet; saute until golden. Add cream and spaghetti sauce to skillet; cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until sauce thickens.
• Add cooked chicken and spinach and cook until spinach reduces. Then add rigatoni; toss with cheese and serve.

RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Steps:

• Remove spinach from package. Place in a sieve under hot running water until thawed. Press spinach against sides of sieve with a rubber scraper to remove excess moisture set aside.Cook rigatoni according to package directions drain, return to pot, cover and keep warm if necessary.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion in butter or margarine for 5 to 7 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in flour. Add milk. Stirring, bring to a boil.Add spinach, ham, bouillon granules and pepper. Stirring, bring to a boil and boil for 3 to 5 minutes to blend flavors.Place drained rigatoni or macaroni in a large serving dish. Pour sauce over toss if desired. Sprinkle with Romano cheese and pass additional cheese.

RIGATONI FLORENTINE (AKA SPINACH AND CHEESE DIP PASTA)

Steps:

• Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until just soft.
• Sprinkle flour over mixture in pan and stir well.
• Pour milk and water into the pan and mix until there are no more lumps.
• Add bouillion cube, spinach, cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
• Stir well until the cheese is melted.
• Add pasta to sauce and mix well.
• Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
• Top with bread crumbs and the remaining parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until the crust is just golden brown.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour then add the cherries, flaked almonds, pistachios and orange zest.
• Scoop 10 flat tbsp of the mixture onto the baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread. You will need to do these in batches. Bake for 10 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 2 mins until firm enough to lift onto a wire rack. Cool completely. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering saucepan of water or in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Turn the florentines over on the wire rack. Spoon chocolate onto the base of each florentine and gently spread to the edges. When the chocolate is firm enough to hold its shape, use a fork to draw wavy lines across the chocolate. Leave to set and then store in an airtight container.

RIGATONI FLORENTINE

Steps:

• Remove spinach from package. Place in a sieve under hot running water until thawed. Press spinach against sides of sieve with a rubber scraper to remove excess moisture set aside.Cook rigatoni according to package directions drain, return to pot, cover and keep warm if necessary.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, sauté onion in butter or margarine for 5 to 7 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in flour. Add milk. Stirring, bring to a boil.Add spinach, ham, bouillon granules and pepper. Stirring, bring to a boil and boil for 3 to 5 minutes to blend flavors.Place drained rigatoni or macaroni in a large serving dish. Pour sauce over toss if desired. Sprinkle with Romano cheese and pass additional cheese.