Spinach with cheese and garlic
A few nights ago your hostess was paging through Ruth Reichl’s Comfort Me With Apples when she happened across a recipe entitled “Dottie’s Spinach.”
The original recipe fed six people and calls for a head of garlic, an amount some may find overwhelming, especially during the holidays, generally considered a time of culinary excess.
I am not one for offering holiday recipes. This is but one reason why six-figure book deals, fame, and fortune continue to elude me. Never mind: the blogosphere is awash in holiday recipes already, sov very many of them requiring pomegranates. Why add to the virtual pot?
Spinach with cheese and garlic may be eaten at any time of year, though its appeal may wane in the hotter months. Nor are pomegranates necessary, allowing me to throw in this completely off topic but pretty apple photograph.
(William Gibson fans: Pomegranate Peripherals.)
Even better: spinach with cheese and garlic is the best sort of vegetarian dish: naturally occurring. Swap in olive oil for butter, use a fake cheese product instead of a cow-derived and the dish is vegan. Lose the panko and those with celiac may safely partake.
Laurie Colwin fans will note the family resemblance to Betty Josey’s recipe for Creamed Spinach with Jalapeño Peppers, which appears in Home Cooking. These recipes are indeed kissing cousins, calling as they do for generous amounts of dairy, a pinch of something spicy, and a brief spell in a hot oven.
In addition to being helpfully flexible (kind of like me), spinach with cheese and garlic pairs beautifully with the holiday season’s big dishes–the poultry, the pork, the hefty cuts of beef. It’s even good all by itself, perhaps with a nice glass of wine or champagne alongside.
Spinach with cheese and garlic
* denotes places the cook can take a break.
Adapted from Ruth Reichl’s Comfort Me With Apples; Reichl got the recipe from filmmaker Les Blank, who called it “Dottie’s Spinach.” Dottie’s identity remains a mystery.
Yield: two servings; easily scaled upward
Spinach may be prepared in two 4 ounce/113 g ramekins or one 8 ounce/227g baking dish.
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for ramekins or baking dish.
6 ounces/170 g spinach, well washed (see notes)
1/2 of small yellow onion or lobe of a shallot, peeled and finely chopped
salt and pepper
1-4 garlic cloves, to your taste, peeled and finely minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 ounce/28g sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
approximately 3 tablespoons panko, for the top (more if using a baking dish)
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
Instructions
You will need a large frying or sauté pan, a strainer, a chef’s knife, a cutting board, and either two small oven-proof ramekins or a small baking dish to make this recipe. I set my ramekins on a baking sheet to avoid spills.
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
Generously butter two 4 ounce/113g ramekins or one small baking dish generously.
*
Wash the spinach well. Place the sauté pan over medium heat and just wilt the spinach using water clinging to leaves. If your spinach is prewashed, add a little water to the pan. Don’t overcook spinach-it should still be bright green. Transfer to strainer.
*
Without washing pan, melt the remaining butter. Add the chopped onion and about 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Allow onion to soften, stirring occasionally. Do not let onion brown; lower heat if necessary. This can take up to 10 minutes.
Add garlic and cayenne. Continue cooking another two minutes or so, stirring. When garlic has softened, turn heat down to lowest setting and turn to spinach.
* If you need a break, turn heat off and sit down for ten minutes.
Squeeze as much moisture as possible from spinach, wringing leaves out. I roll the leaves in paper towel. Once spinach is dry, chop finely. Add spinach to the onion/garlic mixture. Return heat to medium. Stirspinach/onion/garlic mixture blend. Add cheese, stirring to combine ingredients, about one minute. Taste for seasoning; it may not need more.
Spoon spinach-cheese mixture into individual buttered ramekins or baking dish. Shake panko generously over top. Top with a little additional cheese if desired; don’t overdo it.
If using ramekins, set on a baking sheet to avoid any chance of spills (unlikely, but why risk it?) Place tray or baking dish in oven. Bake 20-25 minutes, until spinach is browned, bubbling, and smells delicious.
Variation: try this different cheeses: Fontina, or top with a little Parmesan or a scrape of Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Notes:
I confess to purchasing organic triple-washed spinach, which I don’t wash again.
To prepare this dish ahead of time: prepare up to adding garlic and cayenne. Don’t add cheese. Instead, spoon the spinach into a refrigerator-safe lidded storage container. Allow to cool. Once spinach is cool, cover and refrigerate up to three days. When you are ready to eat, proceed with recipe.
Spinach with cheese and garlic will keep, refrigerated, up to three days. It is best reheated in a low oven; it can be microwaved but will be soggy. For this reason, I would not freeze it.
For ease of washing, soak the sauté pan immediately after use in hot soapy water.
I forgot to take my usual “empty dish” shot. So here’s a nice moody bowl instead.
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