This is one of those busy weekday recipes that I again came up with on the fly. I had first decided we didn’t have a thing to make, but I so did not want to make a grocery run, I looked really hard in the pantry and fridge and came up with this. I love noodle side dishes, but we never buy the pre-packaged kind because they have such high amounts of sodium. This turned out light, but filling, and very tasty. I always have frozen spinach on hand, it is a great value. Adding the sun-dried tomato was a perfect addition to this dish. This dish is sort of like a spinach calzone pasta. You could also make the cheese sauce with milk instead of chicken stock, but I was trying to save a few calories.
Yield: Serves 4
1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 16oz. bag of noodles, (I tried and loved handmade Amish noodles in the medium size)
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (I used one with provolone, parmesan, romano, asiago, mozzarella, and fontina)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Pepper to taste
Prepare noodles according to package directions, cooking them to al-dente. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in flour and kosher salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking continually.
Stir in the chicken stock , and bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Let the sauce thicken.
Then add the cheese, and whisk in and melt. Add the noodles, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Let this heat through, then turn off the heat and stir in the ricotta cheese. Serve and enjoy!