Florentine Rolls Recipes

FLORENTINE ROLLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 muffin cups and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoons oil and cook green onions and garlic until tender.
• Add spinach and basil; cook and stir over medium heat until just wilted. Drain off excess liquid. Stir in salt and pepper; set aside to cool.
• On a well-floured surface, unroll pizza dough and shape into a 12x8 rectangle. Brush surface of dough with remaining olive oil. Spread spinach mixture to within one inch of the edges of the dough. Sprinkle with feta and pine nuts.
• Starting with a long side, roll into a spiral. Slice roll into 12 pieces and place cut-side up in prepared muffin cups. Brush with butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand in muffin cups for 2 minutes. Remove carefully and serve warm.

CHICKEN FLORENTINE ROLL-UPS WITH LEMON-THYME ORZO PILAF

Steps:

• For the chicken Florentine roll-ups: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Thaw the spinach in the microwave or on the stove as per the directions on the package, then place it in a strainer and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, discarding the liquid.
• Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, grate the Parmesan cheese, and chop the basil, and place them in a medium bowl with 2/3 cup of the spinach, the goat cheese, egg white, 1/8 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Stir with a fork until well incorporated.
• Spread 3 tablespoons of the filling on the top half of each chicken breast, roll up, and secure with 2 toothpicks. (See Cook's Note.) Sprinkle the chicken rolls with the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet with a cover over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken rolls until golden, 2 minutes per side. Pour the chicken broth over the rolls, cover, and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes.
• For the lemon-thyme orzo pilaf: Peel and chop the shallots. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the orzo and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the orzo is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 8 to 9 minutes.
• Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes, grate the cheese, chop the thyme, and zest and juice the lemon (1 teaspoon zest and 1 1/2 tablespoons juice). When the orzo is done, stir in the tomatoes, thyme, lemon zest and juice, cheese, salt, and pepper. Cover and let sit off the heat for 5 minutes before serving.
• To serve, drizzle the roll-ups with the liquid from the skillet and serve with the orzo.

FLORENTINE LASAGNA ROLL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Place a sheet of wax paper on a flat surface. Arrange the noodles on top of each other, over-lapping 1-inch.
• Combine all the filling ingredients except the mozzarella, mix well. Spread over the noodles, top with the mozzarella cheese and roll up jelly-roll fashion.
• Place in a 9"X13" baking dish seam side down.
• In a small bowl combine the topping ingredients, pour over the roll and top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
• Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the almonds, flour and zest in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar, butter, cream, and honey in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the almond mixture. Cool the batter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie, spoon 8 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart (the cookies will spread). Flatten the batter slightly with your finger.
• Bake the cookies until they are lacy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a rack and cool completely. Transfer the cookies to paper towels. Repeat with the remaining batter, lining the baking sheets with clean parchment for each batch. (The cookies can be made up to this point 2 months ahead. Cool completely, then store airtight in the freezer. Defrost before continuing.)
• Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere. Repeat with the remaining cookies and chocolate.

FESTIVE FLORENTINE CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Thaw the spinach and drain well. Cube the Velveeta. Cook the bacon and crumble.
• Combine spinach, Velveeta, bread crumbs and bacon in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until Velveeta is melted.
• Unroll the crescent roll dough and separate into 16 triangles. Cut each in half lengthwise, to make 32 triangles.
• Spread each triangle with about 1 teaspoon of cheese mixture. Roll up, starting at wide end. Place on a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes, until golden.

CHICKEN FLORENTINE LASAGNA ROLLS

Steps:

• Noodles -- Now I do this a little different than most. I bring a 13x9 pan on the stove and fill with water and bring to a light boil. I then boil my noodles flat. To me they boil quicker and less chance of tearing being flat in a pan. Just 5 or so minutes and they are done. Then remove them to a sheet of parchment paper to cool. About 24 noodles. If you want you can always boil in a large pot of water if you prefer the traditional method.
• Cheese -- Mix the grated fontina, parmesan and ricotta. Make sure to reserve 1 cup the fontina and 1/2 parmesan for the top layer. Add in a pinch of salt, pepper to taste and the fresh parsley.
• Chicken -- To a medium saucepan, add the olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook on medium heat until lightly browned about 5-7 minutes. Then add in the shredded chicken and fresh spinach, thyme and chicken broth and cook until everything is well combined. Just add a little salt and pepper to taste. Just simmer until the broth reduces.
• Bechemel -- 4 / 4/ 4/ -- my basic recipe. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium pot, then add 4 teaspoons of flour and combine, mix well to make a roux and cook just a couple of minutes to get the flour taste out. Then add in 2 cups heavy cream and 2 cups milk and bring to a medium heat to let it thicken, add a pinch of nutmeg.
• Make the Lasagna -- Lay out a noodle, spread with the cheese mixture and then top with the chicken spinach mixture, then another noodle, more cheese and another layer of chicken mixture, then roll.
• In a 13x9 casserole dish add about 1 cup of the bechemel sauce and then place the lasagna rolls, seam side down. Now top with the remaining sauce. Top with the extra fontina and parmesan cheese. Cover and bake 35 minutes at 375, then remove the foil and cook 10 more minutes until bubbly and golden brown. Make sure to let it rest 10 minutes covered before serving.
• Note: I like to use a 13x9, you want to make sure that the pan is not too big and the rolls fit in the pan nicely side by side, this way the sauce tops the rolls and makes a nice crust. You can also make these in individual ramiken or serving dishes, 2 rolls per person. It makes a great way to serve them for a dinner party.