Best Italian Spinach Recipes

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, SPINACH, AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the Italian sausage meat, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon and brown it until no longer pink, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the excess fat from the sausage meat, and set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl stir together the drained and squeeze-dried spinach, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, eggs, cooled Italian sausage and onion mixture, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the fresh pasta rectangles for 1 minute and remove with a slotted spatula. Set aside. In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups tomato sauce. Working with 1 pasta rectangle at a time, spread 6 tablespoons filling along one edge and roll the pasta sheet up tightly, leaving the ends open. Repeat until you have 8 cannelloni. Arrange the prepared cannelloni, seam-side down, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 2 cups tomato sauce evenly over the cannelloni. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated Parmesan over top. Bake the cannelloni for 20 minutes and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the cannelloni with extra tomato sauce from the baking dish and garnish with fresh basil.
• To make fresh pasta dough: Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Hollow out the center making a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides. Break the eggs into the well. Add the salt, and olive oil to the hollow center and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well. As you incorporate more of the flour, the dough will start to take shape. With your hands or a bench scraper continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour. Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point, set the dough aside, cover it with plastic, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out. Divide the pasta dough into 4 even sections. Keep each section covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel while you work with each one. Flour the dough, the rollers of a pasta roller (or your rolling pin), your hands, and the work surface. If using a pasta machine: Flatten 1 of the of the dough pieces between your hands or with a floured rolling pin until it forms a thick oval disk. Dust the disk, the roller, and your hands with additional flour. Flour a baking sheet to hold the rolled out finished pasta. With the roller on the widest setting, pass the pasta through the machine's rollers a few times until it is smooth. Fold the dough over into 1/3, and continue to pass through a few more times until the pasta is smooth again. Begin adjusting the pasta machine settings to become thinner, passing the dough through a few times at each setting. If rolling the pasta by hand: Flatten a dough piece into a thick oval disk with your hands. Flour a baking sheet for the rolled out finished pasta. Place the oval dough disk on a floured work surface, and sprinkle with additional flour. Begin rolling out the dough with a floured rolling pin working from the center of the dough outwards, constantly moving the dough and lifting it to make sure it's not sticking.
• To make Simple Tomato Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the basil and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. With a potato masher, break up the tomatoes to achieve a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve. Cook's Note: Tomato sauce will last 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND SPINACH PIE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, brown sausage and onion over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink, breaking sausage into crumbles, 6-8 minutes; drain., Separate 1 egg; reserve yolk for brushing pastry. In a large bowl, whisk remaining eggs and egg white. Stir in sausage mixture, spinach, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, garlic powder and pepper., Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of pastry dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Trim pastry even with rim. Add sausage mixture. Roll remaining pastry dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling; trim, seal and flute edge. , In a small bowl, whisk water and reserved egg yolk; brush over crust. Cut slits in top., Bake until golden brown, 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

BEST EVER ITALIAN SPINACH

Steps:

• Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess water.
• Now, squeeze some more and set aside.
• In a saute skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil and garlic.
• Cook until garlic is golden brown (don't burn it!).
• Add spinach and seasonings, saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Break in eggs and continue to saute and stir until eggs are cooked and thoroughly mixed into the spinach.
• Drain any excess oil and transfer to serving platter.
• Sprinkle grated Paremesan cheese over the top, amount to your liking.

SPINACH MANICOTTI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring a pot of water to a boil and immerse spinach in the boiling water until dark green and softened, about 2 minutes. Drain and squeeze out excess moisture.
• Cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Drain excess grease. Combine spinach and sausage in a bowl. Mix cottage cheese and 8 ounces of mozzarella cheese into sausage and spinach, stirring until filling is thoroughly combined.
• Use your fingers to stuff uncooked manicotti shells with stuffing. Lay stuffed manicotti into a baking dish, side by side, and pour both jars of sauce over manicotti.
• Bake in the preheated oven until manicotti are tender but still slightly firm to the bite and the filling is hot, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 4 ounces of mozzarella cheese over the dish, let the cheese melt, and serve.

CHEESE TORTELLINI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOM-SPINACH CREAM SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir sausage in the hot skillet until browned, about 10 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat; add tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, basil, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring as needed.
• Combine cream, milk, cheese, and flour in a bowl. Add to the tomato mixture and return to a simmer. Stir occasionally until reduced, about 15 minutes.
• While the sauce is reducing, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add tortellini and boil gently until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain the tortellini. Mix with the tomato sauce and serve.

WHITE BEAN SOUP WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND FRESH SPINACH

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Add sausages (remove the castings) and saute until beginning to brown, breaking into small pieces, about 5 minutes.
• Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, basil,rosemary, red pepper and sage. Saute until vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
• Add broth, tomatoes with juice and beans. Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender and flavors blend, about 15 minutes.
• Just before serving bring to a simmer and stir in the spinach to wilt.
• Ladle hot soup into pre-heated bowls.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

ITALIAN SPINACH SAUSAGE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in sausage. Cook and stir until sausage is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Drain excess grease. Separate one egg and set yolk aside; beat egg white and remaining eggs in a bowl. Fold spinach, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, salt, garlic powder, pepper, and sausage into eggs.
• Line a 10-inch pie plate with bottom pastry; pour filling into crust. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling. Trim, seal, and flute edges; cut slits in pastry. Beat water and remaining egg yolk in a small bowl; brush the mixture over top of pie.
• Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden and filling is bubbly, 50 to 60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

ITALIAN POTATOES AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender and drain in a colander reserving 1/4 cup of liquid.
• Let potatoes steam 3 minutes, shaking once, then remove to a serving dish.
• While potatoes are cooking, place oil, garlic and red pepper flakes in a small skillet and cook slowly over low heat until garlic is lightly browned.
• When potatoes are ready, cook spinach according to package directions.
• Add spinach, garlic-pepper oil (and some reserved liquid if needed) to potatoes, toss, season with salt and pepper and serve at once.

ITALIAN MEAT AND SPINACH PIE

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pastry and press the edges of the crust with a fork to seal it to the pie dish. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the sauce.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in the ground beef, turkey sausage, and 1 clove of minced garlic. Cook and stir until the meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease. Add the onion, red bell pepper, and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent and the mushrooms have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
• Stir in the tomato paste, water, salt, basil, and oregano and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Line the chilled pie crust with a double thickness of aluminum foil. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the bottom of the crust is set, about 7 more minutes (see Editor's Note for tips). Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine the spinach, ricotta, and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Spoon the filling into the baked crust. Top with the meat mixture. Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil to prevent over-browning, place the pie on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes.
• Remove the pie from the oven. Top the meat mixture with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes, and sliced olives. Return it to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

ITALIAN SPINACH STUFFING

Steps:

• Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, spinach and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until well mixed and heated through, about 5 minutes. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.
• Finely mince chicken gizzards. (You can do this by hand or in a food processor, but be careful not to overprocess.) Season gizzards all over with salt. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add gizzards and sauté, stirring often, until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain off any drippings, then stir gizzards into spinach mixture. Let cool to room temperature.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. When spinach mixture is cool, add eggs, cheese, bread crumbs and parsley and stir until well combined. Transfer stuffing to a 3-quart casserole dish and bake, covered, 1 hour.

ITALIAN VEGETABLE SOUP WITH BEANS, SPINACH & PESTO

Steps:

• Heat oil in a soup kettle over medium-high flame. Add onions, and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, celery, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, bean and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until vegetables are just tender, about 15 minutes. Add spinach and peas; continue to simmer until spinach wilts, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, adding a spoonful of pesto to each serving of soup.
• For lunch, pack soup in separate leakproof containers. Warm soup in microwave and top with pesto.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, SPINACH, AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the Italian sausage meat, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon and brown it until no longer pink, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the excess fat from the sausage meat, and set aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl stir together the drained and squeeze-dried spinach, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, eggs, cooled Italian sausage and onion mixture, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
• Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the fresh pasta rectangles for 1 minute and remove with a slotted spatula. Set aside.
• In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups tomato sauce. Working with 1 pasta rectangle at a time, spread 6 tablespoons filling along one edge and roll the pasta sheet up tightly, leaving the ends open. Repeat until you have 8 cannelloni.
• Arrange the prepared cannelloni, seam-side down, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 2 cups tomato sauce evenly over the cannelloni. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated Parmesan over top.
• Bake the cannelloni for 20 minutes and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• Serve the cannelloni with extra Tomato Sauce from the baking dish and garnish with fresh basil.
• Fresh Pasta Dough:
• Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Hollow out the center making a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides.
• Break the eggs into the well. Add the salt, and olive oil to the hollow center and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well. As you incorporate more of the flour, the dough will start to take shape.
• With your hands or a bench scraper continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour.
• Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point, set the dough aside, cover it with plastic, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out.
• Divide the pasta dough into 4 even sections. Keep each section covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel while you work with each one. Flour the dough, the rollers of a pasta roller (or your rolling pin), your hands, and the work surface.
• If using a pasta machine:
• Flatten 1 of the of the dough pieces between your hands or with a floured rolling pin until it forms a thick oval disk. Dust the disk, the roller, and your hands with additional flour. Flour a baking sheet to hold the rolled out finished pasta.
• With the roller on the widest setting, pass the pasta through the machine's rollers a few times until it is smooth. Fold the dough over into 1/3, and continue to pass through a few more times until the pasta is smooth again. Begin adjusting the pasta machine settings to become thinner, passing the dough through a few times at each setting.
• If rolling the pasta by hand:
• Flatten a dough piece into a thick oval disk with your hands. Flour a baking sheet for the rolled out finished pasta. Place the oval dough disk on a floured work surface, and sprinkle with additional flour. Begin rolling out the dough with a floured rolling pin working from the center of the dough outwards, constantly moving the dough and lifting it to make sure it's not sticking.
• Simple Tomato Sauce:
• In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the basil and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. With a potato masher, break up the tomatoes to achieve a sauce-like consistency.
• Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.
• Cook's Note:
• Tomato sauce will last 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

ITALIAN SPINACH SOUP WITH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Combine chicken broth, onion, carrots, celery, and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until flavors combine, about 30 minutes. Discard onion, carrot, and celery from the broth.
• Bring broth to a boil. Add meatballs. Reduce heat and simmer until meatballs are heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and dried basil. Simmer until flavors combine, 15 to 20 minutes.

ITALIAN SPINACH-COTTAGE CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch pie plate.
• Combine cottage cheese, spinach, mozzarella cheese, eggs, red peppers, Parmesan cheese, and oregano in a bowl. Pour into the prepared pie plate.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the center of the pie is set, 35 to 50 minutes.

SPINACH, WALNUT AND GOLDEN RAISIN PESTO PASTA WITH ITALIAN CHICKEN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the sausages, covered with a medium heatproof bowl, until nice and charred and no longer pink on the inside, flipping once, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool slightly, then slice on the bias. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Poach the garlic cloves in the boiling water for 5 minutes, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to a food processor. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente according to the package directions.
• Meanwhile, add the walnuts to the food processor with the garlic and pulse until chopped, about 8 times. Add the spinach, basil, cheese, olive oil, raisins, salt, pepper and lemon zest and juice. Pulse about 10 times, until combined but still rustically chopped. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Using a spider, add the pasta to the skillet. Add the spinach pesto and toss to combine. Heat until warmed through. Season to taste if necessary and serve immediately topped with grilled sausage slices.

ONE-SKILLET ITALIAN CHICKEN, SPINACH, AND FARRO

Steps:

• Heat a skillet over medium heat and grease with cooking spray. Cook chicken and onion until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove chicken.
• Pour chicken broth into skillet and bring to a boil. Stir in farro. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Return chicken to skillet. Stir in diced tomatoes with liquid, spinach, basil, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes, covered.
• Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

LASAGNA WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Rinse cooked lasagna noodles and set aside. Be sure that you don't use more than 12 oz. or the lasagna will be too dry.
• Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or other large vessel, put the oil, onion and green bell pepper. Saute over medium heat until the onion is tender.
• Add the sausage and garlic and stir-fry until well browned, chopping up the meat as you stir, to make sure all of the pieces are small.
• Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, basil and 1 teaspoons salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, press out the water from the thawed spinach so that it is very dry. Put the spinach into a medium-size mixing bowl.
• Add the cottage cheese, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoons salt and black pepper to the spinach. Stir until well mixed.
• In another medium-size bowl put the grated Mozzarella cheese.
• In a lasagna pan that you have oiled, put down 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce.
• Cover with 1/2 of the lasagna noodles.
• Top with 1/2 of the spinach-cottage cheese filling.
• Top with half of the mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat using 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce, remaining noodles, remaining spinach filling and mozzarella cheese.
• Top with the remaining 1/3 of the tomato-meat sauce and sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over the very top.
• Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
• You might wonder whether or not there is enough tomato sauce, but once the lasagna heats up and the cheese gets gooey, there is enough sauce. I don't like a a lasagna with lots of runny heavy tomato sauce that covers the taste of everything else in the lasagna. If you feel like you need a bit more, add an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce to the tomato-meat sauce.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE-SPINACH PIE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook Italian sausage, onion, and garlic until sausage is browned and vegetables are tender; drain.
• Separate one egg and set aside yolk.
• In a mixing bowl, add egg white and remaining eggs; beat gently.
• Stir in sausage mixture, spinach, cheeses, salt, and pepper.
• Line a 10-inch pie plate with bottom pastry.
• Pour filling in to pie crust.
• Top with upper crust; seal and flute edges.
• Cut slits in top crust for steam to vent.
• Combine water and reserved egg yolk; brush over top crust.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until golden brown; may need to cover crust edges with foil if looks like it is getting too brown.
• Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND SPINACH CRESCENT CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Bake crescent rolls as directed on cans. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat 7 to 9 minutes or until no longer pink; drain. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, garlic and pepper flakes; cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened. Add half of the spinach; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until spinach has wilted. Repeat with remaining half of spinach.
• Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. Cut or tear each cooled crescent roll into 3 pieces, and place in baking dish. Arrange sausage mixture over crescent pieces in baking dish.
• In medium bowl, beat eggs, whipping cream, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the salt and pepper. Pour over crescent pieces and sausage mixture in dish; carefully stir to distribute mixture and coat with egg mixture.
• Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over top. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

CREAMY ITALIAN SAUSAGE-SPINACH DIP

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Cook sausage with onions, peppers and garlic in large skillet until sausage is done; drain. Cool slightly.
• Mix Neufchatel, Parmesan, milk, dressing and sour cream in large bowl. Add sausage mixture, spinach and banana peppers; stir. Spread into a 9-inch quiche dish or deep-dish pie plate.
• Bake 30 min. or until hot and bubbly.