Florentine Mac and Cheese and Meatballs

The air is getting colder... makes you wanna put on a sweater... and eat comfort foods. And so as I was home after work in the early evening, actually awake enough (and not napping) to catch Rachael Ray on Food Network... I catch the episode, "Mac and Cheese Goes Green"! heehee... if you don't know me very well, I got to say those are two of my favorite things... Mac and Cheese and Green;o)

Even though I caught it in the middle of the episode--and maybe I was flipping back and forth between a rerun of Friends... I caught enough of the episode to know that it was easy to make and the meatballs were huge (my other favorite--besides hot sausage) looked yumm-o!;o) ...and it's got spinach in it! I never cook with spinach!!

Florentine Mac and Cheese with Meatballs

Salt
1 lb. cavatappi corkscrew shaped hallow pasta
1 1/2 lbs. ground chicken (I used ground turkey.)
Black pepper
2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
2 tsp. fennel seeds
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs, plus more if needed*
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2-10 oz. boxes of chopped frozen spinach
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup whole milk
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg, eyeball it

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place a large pot of water on to boil for pasta. When it comes to a boil, salt it and add the pasta to cook to al dente. Strain pasta reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.

While the water is coming to a boil, in a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, salt and pepper, rosemary, fennel seeds, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parm (not packed), egg and bread crumbs. (*If the mixture seems too wet, add a handful of bread crumbs and mix together.)

Form 8 large round balls, about 3 to 4 inches. Coat balls in a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and lightly grease a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Arrange balls on the baking sheet and roast 17 to 18 minutes until juices run clear.

Defrost spinach in microwave 8 to 10 minutes on "defrost" setting depending on the microwave. Place the boxes in a shallow dish to catch any run off.

While the meatballs roast, in a medium sauce pot over medium heat, melt butter, whisk in flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in stock and milk, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and thicken 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup grated Parm and reduce heat on lowest setting.

Wring spinach completely dry in clean kitchen towel then separate as you add it to the sauce. Also add the reserved 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Toss pasta with the spinach-white sauce and adjust seasonings. Serve Florentine Mac-n-Cheese with 2 meatballs per person.