| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 bundles farm spinach, trimmed, washed and dried, chopped
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground veal
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 large shallots or 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 to 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons very thinly sliced fresh sage (a small handful of leaves)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine or chicken stock-in-a-box
- 1 pound ziti, whole wheat pasta or whole grain ziti
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 rounded tablespoons flour
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to your taste
- About 1 1/2 cups grated Italian fontina (recommended: Fontina Val D’Aosta or 6 ounces Gruyere cheese)
- About 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil for pasta.
- In the skillet heat the olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Add the ground veal and lightly brown and crumble, then add the chopped carrot, shallots, garlic, and sage and season with salt and a little pepper and cook to soften carrots and onions, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, add the wine and turn the heat down a bit to simmer gently.
- Meanwhile, drop the pasta in salted water and undercook by 2 minutes from package cooking directions.
- In a saucepot over medium to medium-high heat, add butter and melt, whisk in the flour for 1 minute then whisk in the milk, bring to a bubble and season with more salt than pepper and a few grates of nutmeg. When the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon taste and adjust nutmeg and pepper to your liking.
- Add the spinach to the veal until it is wilted and incorporate, then stir together the pasta, veal mixture, and sauce. Pour the mixture into a casserole and top with the cheeses. Cool, cover and store for a make-ahead meal.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place the casserole on a baking sheet to catch the drips and bake in a hot oven until brown and bubbly, 35 to 45 minutes if reheating, 15 to 20 minutes, if not.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 898 |
| Total Fat | 43 g |
| Saturated Fat | 21 g |
| Carbohydrates | 79 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 49 g |
| Cholesterol | 117 mg |
| Sodium | 1159 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 898 |
| Total Fat | 43 g |
| Saturated Fat | 21 g |
| Carbohydrates | 79 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 49 g |
| Cholesterol | 117 mg |
| Sodium | 1159 mg |
Reviews
I made this with a few modifications. I used small pasta on hand and chose not to make as a casserole but I did add sour cream for a bit more creaminess. Fantastic❤️
Yum! I had to use a meatloaf mix (beef, pork, veal) instead of plain ground veal, as it wasn’t available. Flavors were still great. Even if you divide this into six servings, the portions are huge and very filling. My six year old loved this. Thanks for another great recipe, Rachael.
I made this for my husband. Instead of veal I used venison. It was fantastic!
My hubby and brother loved it. I’m a pantry cooker too during Covid so replaced the spinach with kale and I used penne
Not sure what I’m missing, but there was no where near enough “sauce” to lead to bubbling. Turned out dry and unremarkable. Doubt I’ll try this again.
Turned out wonderful, first time cooking with veal. I used Rigatoni instead of ziti, and it was a little dry when reheated, so I added some heavy cream and a tad more Parm and was great day 2 as well! Made about 8 healthy servings. Love bring able to put my ingredients in and have a recipe match up!
I recommend adding half of the cheese to the sauce before mixing together. Then put the rest of the cheese on top to bake. Good recipe otherwise. You could also as more spinach to this very easily.
Way too much ziti. Not a ziti fan. Should have used bow tie or something else. Veal was overwhelmed. Otherwise flavor was very good. Also, this could have served many more than 4-6.
This definitely is a keeper recipe. Whenever I am able to find ground veal, or any veal cut for that matter, I will buy it. I wanted a different recipe than the usual patties, balls, or pepper stuffing (yes – trying to do the Paleo adapted cooking as much as possible) and I am half Italian and LOVE me some (low-carb) pasta! Stumbled across this recipe and thought I would try it. Didn’t have any guryere, but used some fresh shaved romano and had some fresh mozz for the topping and it turned out just fine. My hubby likes white sauced “Italian” dishes more than red sauced ones so he did like this dish – he had seconds, so that is a five star vote from me. Delish for sure. Made a second casserole and froze it for an easy dinner another time.
i dont usually try to follow a recipe but like to be inspired by them. This time I purchased ground veal and googled a recipe for inspiration. This one caught my eye. I had everything except the fancy pants guyrere(?) cheese. I actually really like that cheese so off to Kroger’s cheese boutique.. Wowy.. Pricey! So I opened a good bottle of unoaked chardanney and 1st poured a glass for moi, then started prepping for Ms. Ray’s recipe. Pulled out the BIG sautee pan my mom n law gave me.. Nice! Makes enough for whole week (we love leftovers). I did mention I dont normally follow recipes?? I am a “pantry cook”..
All went well. Made it all, white roux sauce & all.. Love the cheese!! Put it into 3 different casserole dishes ( for us this week & to share).. Then BAM!! (Oh, borrowed that from Emeril).. I forgot the darn spinach. Dumped all three dishes back into Mama’s BIG sautee pan and threw the baby organic spinach into the dish, gently folded the leaves in.. And of course all that yummy guryere gets folded in too.. Served back into the dishes to baked later(and to give to friends in need)… Retopped each with little more cheese
I did bake some for our Sunday Night Football night… Hubs LOVED IT!! Had enough of the unoaked wine to enjoy with a plate of this yumeee dish.. It’s a keeper