Creamed Spinach

Patri, author of Sabores&Momentos, brings us an ideal recipe to enjoy spinach: how to make creamed spinach with a gratin finish. It’s perfect to enjoy at the table and it’s also very easy. You’ll love the recipe, you’ll see!

With the end of summer and the return to routine, the little ones go back to school and we get back to routine when it comes to their meals. No more vacation whim meals, haha! So at home I’m already busy putting together the weekday menus to have everything tied up and not forget the ingredients for each day’s dishes….. Back to daily vegetables!

Book “The Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, mini-cocottes Le Creuset and Textured plate from Tokyo Design

Spinach prepared any way is an excellent vegetable! The variety with small, more tender leaves can be cooked directly in a pan over low heat with some butter and salt in its own juices. Although the usual method is to blanch them first in plenty of salted water, then drain well and cook over low heat with oil or butter so they are sautéed with all their flavor. Spinach pairs with almost everything: fish, chicken, ham, chops, eggs…. It can be used for empanada fillings, cannelloni, vegetable pies and even soufflés.

Today I bring you a classic I love: delicious creamed spinach, which at home we all enjoy, young and old alike. I sometimes serve it as a first course and other times as a side for meat or fish, depending on the menu. Its flavor is intense and that extreme creaminess makes it an irresistible staple. Usually, since we are a large family, I present it in a rectangular dish (like those from Emile Henry or the famous Le Creuset one) ovenproof where I give it the final gratin… but today I was in a mood and used my mini-cocottes to serve individual portions and they’re absolutely lovely!! Straight from the oven to the table, just how I like it.

For this recipe I also follow the wise advice of Julia Child, who in her book “The Art of French Cooking” has an entire section on this kind of recipes. Although the original recipe is made with light cream or heavy cream, I personally always make it with milk so it’s not so heavy. I hope you like them!

Ingredients (for 4-6 people)

• 1.2kg of fresh spinach
• salt for boiling the spinach
• 60g of unsalted butter (you can substitute olive oil to make the recipe lighter)
• 1 ½ tablespoons sifted flour
• 1 small garlic clove (optional)
• A handful of pine nuts
• 250ml of milk
• salt and pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 150 gr of grated gruyere or emmental cheese
• 60gr of grated parmesan cheese

Le Creuset skillet with wooden handle and mini-cocottes Le Creuset

Preparation

1. We start by washing the fresh spinach leaves well to remove any sand. Prepare a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Add the spinach and let it return to a boil for about 2 minutes over high heat.
2. After that time, pour into a colander in the sink and immediately run cold water over it to refresh the spinach. This way we will keep the color and texture. Then squeeze the spinach and drain all excess moisture. With a knife on a cutting board chop them (if the board has a juice groove like the Kuhn Rikon one it will be cleaner, since the spinach will still release water).
3. In a saucepan or skillet melt the butter, lightly brown the chopped garlic clove, add the pine nuts, the spinach and the salt and sauté over high heat so the moisture evaporates for a minute or two. Then sprinkle the flour and stir so it integrates. Reduce the heat and let cook for another couple of minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and add two-thirds of the milk by spoonfuls and the pinch of nutmeg. Stir, cover and simmer very gently for about 13-15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the spinach from sticking to the bottom. Continue adding milk as needed if they start to dry out. Keep them juicy and after the time, pour them into the mini-cocottes Le Creuset.
5. Sprinkle with the cheeses and set aside if not serving immediately. About 30 minutes before serving at the table, put them in the oven directly in the mini-cocottes, preheated to 190º so the spinach reaches the ideal temperature and the top layer browns slightly.

And to the table… I hope you like it!!