Cheesy Florentine Pasta

by Sabrina Snyder

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19 Comments

4.34 from 6 votes
6 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
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Cheesy Florentine Pasta is the perfect dish that is full of flavor. Serve as a side or the main course. Everyone will love it, try it tonight!

Pastas are how we survive the week around here when we’re out of proteins to cook with and Cheesy Florentine Pasta is perfect. Try my Creamy Cavatelli Pasta or my Cacio e Pepe Pasta for a great dinner meal.

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Sabrina’s Cheesy Florentine Pasta Recipe

This pasta is a quick and easy recipe that comes together with some fresh spinach and either bottled or home roasted bell peppers tossed with an easy creamy cheese sauce. I have a lot of friends who intentionally make vegetarian dinners on a weekly basis but for us, we like chicken pastas more than almost any other comfort dish. Also, this is a great as a cold lunch option!

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Dinner, then Dessert

Cheesy Florentine Pasta Recipe

Cheesy Florentine Pasta is the perfect dish that is full of flavor. Serve as a side or the main course. Everyone will love it, try it tonight!
Yield 6 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Author Sabrina Snyder
Close up of cooked ingredients in a white bowl ready to be eaten
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound penne pasta
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 4 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup roasted peppers , sliced

Instructions

  • Cook the pasta one minute shy of the directions listed on the box and drain (do not rinse).
  • Add the butter to the pot you just used for the pasta (make sure to have at least rinsed it out well).
  • Once melted add in the flour and whisk well, cooking for about a minute.
  • Add in the milk slowly while whisking until smooth.
  • Add in the salt, pepper, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and whisk well.
  • Add the pasta back in and toss well.
  • Add in the spinach and bell peppers and toss a bit more before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 488kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 580mg | Potassium: 418mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 2405IU | Vitamin C: 8.3mg | Calcium: 325mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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Sabrina Tips

Overcooking spinach can make it lose its bright color and fresh flavor. Adding it briefly keeps the dish vibrant and delicious. To finish this meal add a handful of freshly grated Parmesan just before serving.

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About This Recipe

Cheesy Florentine Pasta is a creamy pasta dish that combines tender noodles with spinach, garlic, and a rich cheese sauce. The term “Florentine” refers to dishes prepared with spinach, a style traditionally associated with the Italian city of Florence. The sauce on its own is a basic roux with milk, mozzarella and parmesan and the addition of the bell peppers and pasta make the flavors pop even more. Can’t say it enough this is the perfect pasta!

Pairing Suggestions

We love to serve it with Grilled Chicken or Ribeye Steak. We also love sides like Roasted Garlic Butter Mushrooms for a more savory (umami) flavor if you are looking for a meat free alternative for making this a more filling meal.

Ideas to Serve

You can enjoy this dish warm or cold, we often eat this recipe cold for lunches or picnics out. In fact, the last time my family picnicked, I used this recipe as our main entree, but it also serves well as a side!

More Creamy Pastas

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About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  2. I have not yet made this dish, but it sounds super yummy, so I’ll make it soon. I know that we’ll love it. For us, I will add some garlic & sliced Baby Bella (Crimini) mushrooms, since that’s what we like. Some leftover chicken would also be good, if added.

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