Florentine Mac and Cheese and Roast Chicken Sausage Meatballs

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The meatballs were flavorless and dried out. I followed the instructions completely so not sure what went wrong. The mac and cheese was horrible. I agree with the other reviews that it didn't need as much spinach, could have used double the sauce and the cheese was not nearly strong enough to create any kind of flavor. I had to pitch all of it in the trash because it was just not worth eating. And it's an expensive recipe for the most part. I had to buy the fennel seeds as they're not something I keep on hand and parmagiano reggiano cheese is pretty costly where I live. About 2 cups of it is around $15 and this recipe called for a cup and a half. This is the second RR recipe I've tried that didn't work out.

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This is my second try at one of Rachel's recipes. I learned a great deal from my previous effort and this tiem I made sure I had all my ingredients ready to go. This time around I can honestly say this is indeed a 30 minute meal.

The meatballs were absolutely fantastic. They had a nice crust on the outside and were moist and flavorful on the inside.

The mac & cheese left alot to be desired. I cut the spinach to one box and I'm glad I did. The sauce seemed a bit thin and it probably needed more flour or possibly wasn't cooked down enough. Wasn't really wild about the taste, as others have said it tasted quite bland.

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These meatballs were so tasty, but very filling! It was so easy to make, I will definately put this is my recipe database. The mac and cheese was very good; I used whole wheat pasta and cut the spinach in half. Delicious!!

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I made this tonight after being "inspired" by yesterday's episode of 30 Minute Meals. I substituted chopped broccoli for the spinach and increased the proportions of the sauce, as it did not look like it would be enough. The chicken sausage style meatballs were absolutely awesome. I have never tried to make my own sausage but I will continue to use this recipe for other purposes when sausage is required. I also put the pasta in a casserole, topped with cheese and cooked in the oven for a few minutes to brown the top. It was delicious. Thanks to Rachael for another winner!

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I almost always make the recipe "as is" in order to review it appropriately, however, I had to make a few changes due to the circumstances. The grocery store I shopped at did not have ground chicken, so I used turkey 93/7. I only had 8oz of pasta on hand, so I intended upon halving the sauce recipe, but I forgot, and I'm glad I did! You need double the amount of sauce or half the amount of pasta (8oz is just than enough for my family of 4.... Also, I only added 1 package of spinach, because after adding the first one, I couldn't see adding the second! It would be way to much in my opinion. Also, I made about 14 smaller meatballs and turned them occasionally while cooking. It still took the recommended amount of time for them to cook and they were still pretty big.

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I do like a lot of garlic and flavor in my food so I tweaked the recipe as follows: I doubled the amount of sauce and sauteed a good sized finely diced shallot in the butter as well as 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic. I also used 2% milk and it came out great! I only had 1 box of frozen chopped spinach - it was enough. Whenever you use frozen spinach - you always want to make sure that you squeeze all the water from it. I use a mesh colander and then put spinach in a dish towel and squeeze. I didn't have any problems with the sauce being bland with my revisions and it's so important to use the best ingredients you can when cooking - it makes a big difference in flavor. I only use Locatelli Percorina Romano whenever I have to use a grated cheese and I've never had anything but happy tummies: Another secret that I use is called Better Than Bouillon and I use it in any recipe that calls for chicken stock (unless I have homemade chicken stock handy. It gives any recipe that added umph!

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I loved this recipe. It was very easy (except grating the cheese by hand. I think I will get a rotary grater for next time. Also I think I may try a less expensive fresh parmesan cheese.

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I love the idea of this dish & with a slight tweak that I use whenever I make mac & cheese it's really delicious. I take the milk I'm using for the sauce & heat over very low heat for about a half hour to 45 minutes in a heavy bottomed sauce pan with half an onion, 2 smashed cloves of garlic, a couple of whole cloves and a half teaspoon of dry mustard (you could do this ahead of time & cool the milk to room temp & refrigerate. The flavored milk really makes a difference & definitely keeps the sauce from being bland. Other than that I follow the recipe exactly & agree with other reviewers that it's really important to squeeze all of the moisture out of the spinach.

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I was a little concerned when I first decided to try this recipe due to some of the negative comments users have left, but I found that with some of the modifications other reviewers suggested the dish was completely delicious! My dinner partner ate two full helpings and loved it, and so did I.

I used ground turkey breast for the meatballs, and the texture was perfectly fine and totally delicious. The sauce is where I kind of messed around, since so many reviewers felt it was bland. I sauteed a bit of onion and garlic with the butter before adding any of the other ingredients. I replaced the whole milk with fat free 1/2 & 1/2, and rather than use two boxes of frozen spinach I used half a box of frozen spinach and half a box of chopped up frozen broccoli, thawed. I also left enough of the meatball mix to make about a meatball and a half, and I mixed that in with the sauce. I used the listed amount of grated Parmesan but also added about two and a half teaspoons of ricotta and a handful of shredded mozzarella. I completely disregarded the leftover pasta water and accidentally forgot to add the chicken stock at all, and the sauce was still excellent!

I will definitely be making this again very, very soon!

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Kids loved it!!!