Creamy, comforting and gently spiced, my Spinach Florentine Casserole is an easy to throw together weeknight dish that’s perfect for Meatless Monday. It’s so delicious that even I – someone who is very wary of spinach – absolutely love it.
My Spinach Florentine Casserole has three layers:
There is a creamy spinach and mushroom layer,
a tomato and pesto enrobed pasta layer, and
a scrumptious layer of vegetarian cheddar.
When they are baked in the oven, somehow the creamy, tomato-ey, cheesy layers blend together so deliciously that I have to restrain myself from having seconds.
The History of Spinach Florentine Casserole
I’ve been making my Spinach Florentine Casserole for a long time. It was inspired by a recipe from the late Linda McCartney’s book, ‘Linda’s Kitchen’. The book is out of print now but if you can get hold of a copy I highly recommend it.
When I first became interested in meatless recipes, it was the recipes in this book that grabbed my imagination. In addition, they convinced my husband that vegetarian recipes could be just as tasty as their meaty counterparts.
One of the recipes in Linda’s Kitchen that always appealed to me was for a Layered Spinach Fusilli Bake. However I wasn’t keen on Linda’s idea of a layer of pasta dressed solely with olive oil and garlic in the middle, and I knew my husband would not care for the sliced tomatoes on top. To get round these issues, I decided to dress the pasta layer with a pesto spiked tomato sauce instead as well as adding mushrooms to the florentine layer for both flavour and nutrition. I replaced the sliced tomato topping with sharp cheddar cheese.
All Cheese Is Not Vegetarian
One thing you do need to be careful of in order to keep this dish strictly vegetarian is to be sure to use vegetarian cheese. As one of the main ingredients in pesto is Parmesan cheese – a cheese which is not vegetarian – you may want to make you own pesto using a vegetarian Italian style cheese. You can also buy vegetarian pesto ready made.
How Do I Serve Spinach Florentine Casserole?
Served alongside a crisp green salad and some crusty bread, my Spinach Florentine Casserole will convince even the most hardened spinach avoider to give this nutritional powerhouse a chance. Leftovers keep for a couple of days in the fridge and are very tasty re-heated for lunch the next day.
Spinach Florentine Casserole – Printable Recipe
Spinach Florentine Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound of spinach
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 tablespoons plain flour
- about 2 cups milk
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- very generous pinch of nutmeg freshly ground if possible
- 8 to 9 ounces penne pasta
- 1¾ cups plain tomato sauce or passata sieved tomatoes (I use a 400 gram tin of passata)
- 4 tablespoons basil pesto
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup vegetarian cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C or 170°C for a fan oven).
- Steam the spinach for 3 minutes.
- Remove the spinach from the heat and drain it as much as possible. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add the mushrooms and sauté until they begin to pick up some colour.
- Sprinkle the flour over top of the mushrooms and stir to coat.
- Cook for a minute or so.
- Gradually add the milk, a bit at a time, stirring and allowing the sauce to thicken between each addition. You want a fairly thick and creamy sauce so you may not need all the milk.
- Add the cooked spinach and stir through.
- Stir in the nutmeg.
- Add the salt and pepper.
- Pour the mixture into the bottom of a deep 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta and return it to the saucepan.
- Over very low heat, add the tomato sauce or passata to the pasta in the saucepan.
- Grate in the garlic and add the pesto, stirring through to mix.
- Place the dressed pasta layer carefully over the spinach florentine layer in the baking dish.
- Sprinkle the cheese over top of the pasta layer.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown.
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Comments & Reviews
Nicole Neverman says
This dish sounds so delicious, April! I love those layers. This looks so filling and comforting. I would definitely not miss the meat in this one 🙂
April Harris says
Thank you, Nicole 🙂
April Harris says
Thank you, ladies!
Tara says
Oh yum, this looks delicious!! I am starving now!!
April Harris says
Thank you, Tara! It really does taste as good as it looks 🙂
Susie Gall says
I can almost smell this dish just by looking at the ingredients – fantastic. It looks and sounds divine!
April Harris says
Thank you, Susie 🙂
nancy@skinnykitchen.com says
This looks dreamy good April!
April Harris says
Thank you, Nancy 🙂
Janette@culinaryginger says
Wow, what a creamy comforting dish. I think I could eat it all.
April Harris says
Thank you, Janette! I do find it hard to resist seconds 😉
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
I think this recipe is brilliant! Love your layers – how delicious! I would love to get my hands on a copy of Linda’s Kitchen! I’ll be on the lookout!
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Patricia! I hope you are able to find a copy.
Debi @ Life Currents says
Yummy yummy! I could go for this for dinner tonight! So lovely!
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Debi 🙂
Pauline Wiles says
I am late to this spinach-appreciation party, but as someone who actually rather likes the green stuff, and who loves mushrooms, cheese and pasta, this looks like an absolute winner to me. You did a great job of adapting Linda’s original recipe for your own preferences.
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Pauline 🙂
shobha says
Awesome baked dish .. I also make something similar with spinach and spagetti
April Harris says
Thank you, Shobha. Your dish sounds lovely with the spaghetti too!
Miz Helen says
Hi April,
Thanks so much for sharing this awesome Spinach Florentine Casserole with Full Plate Thursday, hope to see you again soon!
Miz Helen
April Harris says
Thank you for hosting, Miz Helen! I’m so glad you like it 🙂
Joanne T Ferguson says
Love this combination and what a winner dinner recipe this is April! Pinned!
April Harris says
I’m so glad you like it, Joanne!Thank you for pinning 🙂
Mother of 3 says
That sounds delicious!! I love baked pasta dishes and I bet the addition of the spinach Florentine makes this super yummy. Pinned.
April Harris says
Thank you, Joanne 🙂 Thank you so much for pinning too!
mireille says
That looks delicious! I love mushrooms and spinach!
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April Harris says
Thank you so much, Mireille!
Stacey says
I will be making this. Looks delicious and perfect for getting into Fall. Nice and cozy food.
Brian says
A baked dish for all seasons, and for whoever loves pasta. If you like traditional products, I suggest Parmigiano Reggiano POD aged 16 months. Well done!
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Brian. I love Parmigiano Reggiano but unfortunately it isn’t vegetarian. This was a recipe I shared as part of Meatless Monday which is why I didn’t recommend it here.
Catherine Sokolowski says
I think this recipe could become a family favorite! Can’t wait to try it!
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Catherine! I hope you love it as much as we do. Please let me know what you think when you try it!
Claire Justine says
This looks so tasty April. I love food like this. Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Creative Mondays. Have a great weekend and we hope to see you on Monday.
April Harris says
Thank you, Claire! I hope you have a lovely weekend too!
Miz Helen says
I love the way you layered the delcicious and flavorful layers of goodness! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday,448 and hope you will come back soon!
Miz Helen
April Harris says
Thank you so much, Miz Helen! I hope you are having a lovely week!