(JeffreyW via Whats4dinnersolutions.com)
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From TaMara, Recipe Goddess:
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I thought last week went really well. Thanks for playing along. This week we delve into spinach recipes. I used to hate spinach. This is probably because I am a child of the 70′s and the only spinach I ever saw was canned or frozen, with the consistency of slime. As an adult I discovered fresh, baby spinach and I never looked back. One of my favorite spinach recipes is Spinach Lasagna.
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I also make a pretty good Tomato-Spinach Soup, here’s nice recipe for Chicken and Spinach Wraps, and JeffreyW has a lovely Stuffed Manicotti that uses spinach. So now it’s your turn. What are some of your favorite uses for spinach? Hit the comments and share.
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To get us started:
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Spinach Lasagna
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This is one of my most requested recipes. Every time I make it, someone wants the recipe. Since the prep time is so much, I usually only break it out for special occasions. It freezes well, so you can make a double batch and freeze two 8×8 pans of uncooked lasagna for two more meals. Thaw the night before (in the refrigerator) and cook until heated through, about 45 minutes to an hour. This recipe is great vegetarian, or you can add ground beef and sausage if desired.
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This recipe takes about an hour to prepare and another hour to cook. It easily serves 6 – 8
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Sauce:
* 3-15 oz cans tomato sauce
* 2-6 oz cans tomato paste
* 14 oz can diced tomatoes
* 2 tsp oregano, crushed
* 3 tsp basil, crushed
* 3 tsp crushed garlic
* 1 medium carrot, peeled & finely grated
* pinch of sugar (reduces acidity of the tomatoes)
* Optional: ½ lb ground beef and ½ spicy Italian sausage, browned
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Saucepan
Add all ingredients to saucepan on medium-high, stirring constantly until it begins to boil lightly. Turn to low and let simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
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Lasagna:
* 1 pkg lasagna noodles (16 oz), cooked and placed in cool water until layering*
* 16 oz ricotta cheese
* 8 oz fresh baby spinach, washed and dried and chopped
* 1 egg
* 12 oz sliced mozzarella cheese
* ½ cup parmesan cheese
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13×9 baking dish (I prefer glass), lightly oiled
To prepare: Mix ricotta, spinach and egg until well blended. Ladle a layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Cover in a single layer of noodles. Ladle sauce over noodles. Spoon ½ of the ricotta mixture evenly (if you place large dollops evenly like putting cookie dough on a baking sheet, fairly close together, it will spread as it cooks, no need to smooth it). Layer 1/3 of the mozzarella over the ricotta. Repeat: noodles, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles. On top of the last layer of noodles, add remaining sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, uncovered – I like to place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills as it bubbles. Place knife through the center, if it comes out heated through, remove and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. If it needs more cooking time, you can cover with foil to keep the cheese from burning and cook 10 more minutes. Let stand uncovered before serving.
Reader Interactions
51Comments
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Just Some Fuckhead
The food in that picture looks fucking awesome.
Raven
It’s a Martha Recipe but I really like it!
Cavolo Nero and Cannellini Bean Soup
eemom
fuckie!! You’re alive!
I’ve missed you. : (
Elie
Thanks for the recipes… I am all over this…
rikyrah
I’m with you on spinach. I hate it solo, but I have come to really like it in all sorts of different dishes.
Elie
I can hardly wait to try these shells. This is right up my comfort food alley
BTW — HI EEMOM!
I have been head down working my ass off in a new job… haven’t been as regular but I have been lurkin and reading when i can…
Omnes Omnibus
@Just Some Fuckhead: Fuckhead! You’re back!
Linda Featheringill
Somebody has got to have a nice recipe for spinach and eggs. Yes?
abo gato
mmmm, love stuffed shells. Those look great.
Here is my offering. I made these last night just so I could remember what I did with this. This is a great recipe for anyone going low carb. Plus it just tastes wonderful!
Chicken and Spinach
4 bone in, skin on, chicken thighs
olive oil
half an onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bag fresh spinach (are they 9 ounces? I rarely look)
about a half a cup of heavy cream
about a half a cup of grated parmesan cheese
In a skillet (cast iron for me) heat some olive oil and brown the chicken thighs. Put some freshly ground pepper and salt on them before you brown them. Remove the chicken for a few minutes and saute the onion and the garlic in any oil remaining in the skillet. Add the spinach and stir it up so that the spinach wilts. Add the chicken back to the skillet and then pour on the cream. Cover this and simmer it for about 30 minutes. Remove the cover and stir in the cheese. Simmer again for maybe another 10 minutes so that the sauce thickens up. I like to add a little grating of nutmeg over this at the end and then stir that into the sauce.
This turns out to be a nice creamed spinach with chicken dish. I think you’ll like it as much as we do.
FormerSwingVoter
Delicious foods are great and all, but howsabout some pet pictures up in here?
r€nato
that’s awesome, T. I made something a few months back that did call for the stuffed shells seen in the pic. Can’t remember what was stuffed in them…
also your sauce recipe is very close to my (Tuscan) family recipe, though we add ground pork to the meats, and sub in mild Italian sausage for the spicy stuff. Also, too, ground nutmeg is used (after it’s all thrown together) and instead of throwing it all together in one step, the meat browns while making a soffritto with e.v. olive oil, carrots, celery, parsley, onions and garlic.
Adding sugar is definitely advised – American tomatoes are somewhat bitter compared to Italian-grown tomatoes. Though if you are able to, use Pomi for the can of tomato sauce and if you can afford it, buy imported San Marzano tomatoes (forget the brand, comes in a yellow-labeled can) for the diced or crushed tomatoes.
Buon appetito!
eemom
@Elie:
Hi Elie! Good to see ya.
eemom
@Omnes Omnibus:
uh oh…..I think we scared him off.
chopper
i make straight-up spinach soup. sweat some leek and garlic in a pan, throw in an assload of spinach and wilt it down, put it in the vitamix with a buncha chicken stock and a few oz of tofu and whiz it for about 5-6 minutes. comes out bright-as-shit green, like a shamrock shake. good as hell and easy.
Omnes Omnibus
@eemom: Fuckie has become shy? Heaven forfend.
MonkeyBoy
I like spanikopita but I can’t find the recipe I use right now. It is not all hard to make especially considering that a big batch can be frozen.
The Lebanese shop nearby sells spinach pie which is ok but not in the Greek style – his is wrapped in bread dough rather than phyllo and has no feta inside.
khead
As usual, the JeffreyW pic makes me hungry.
In this case, hungry enough to say – have some kittehs.
srv
That is one awesome, mouth-watering pic. If I could just find my shoes and the box with all the JSF tombstone donations I will be eating very happy tonight.
Schlemizel
I love spinach by itself as a vegetable but like to add vinegar and hot pepper. But ever since I discovered Palak Paneer its even more favorite:
1 c Paneer cheese, cubed
1 med Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, mashed
1 Tbl Garam masala
To taste Ginger, grated
1/4 t Red chili flakes (can use fresh chilies
1 lb Frozen spinach
1 lg Tomato, chopped
1 c Peas (optional)
Soften onions in a saucepan with a little oil then add the garlic, garam masala and ginger. Stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes then add spinach, tomatoes and red pepper. Lower heat and cook until spinach cooks down, approx 20-30 minutes. If you want to add peas put them in during the last 5-10 minutes (I hate mushy peas). Add the cheese cubes and heat until they are warm.
You can find the fresh Indian cheese, paneer at more places now and can even find it pre-cubed and deep fried. This dish can be served with plain or deep fried but when I do it with fried I just buy the pre-cooked stuff so I don’t have the hassle.
SIA
SO glad you’re back! I might even try to cook sumpin’!
Schlemizel
@MonkeyBoy:
I love spanikopita too – but don’t have the recipe on the top of my head. I have about an hour of stuff before I can look for it, will try to post before I go to bed but no promises.
Without phyllo or feta?!?! bleeeck – why bother? nice crispy phyllo makes it perfect!
SIA
Any in-town Atlantans here? Rainbow Grocery serves yummy spanikopita, plus all sorts of yummy organic hippie food.
TaMara (BHF)
Wow, all the recipes sound terrific. You guys are so talented. And I am so very flattered that JSF shows up in my recipe threads. I miss you to!
TaMara (BHF)
Also there is a recipe for homemade lasagna noodles at the link.
And it seems to have gotten cut off from the post here, but next week is Super Bowl food. Bring your favorite snack or meal recipe for the big game.
schrodinger's cat
Stir fried spinach with garlic and sesame.
1 pound spinach (fresh or frozen)
3 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
salt to taste
Heat the oil in large skillet or a wok, when it starts sizzling add the garlic, when the garlic loses its raw look add the spinach. The spinach will start wilting in about 5 minutes or so. Add salt to taste. Turn of the heat
In another pan dry roast sesame seeds, when they start turning slightly brown, turn off the heat. Garnish the spinach with the sesame seeds.
schrodinger's cat
@Schlemizel: Fresh paneer is very easy to make. All you need is whole milk, some vinegar and time.
ant
i made chicken pot pie the other week that turned out good.
1. 4 pounds of chicken thighs cook in water in crock pot over night.
2. in the morning, remove chicken, cool, debone, add skin/bones/etc back to crock pot to cook all day. put meat in frige
3. crust. 3 cups flour, 1 cup milk, 3 Tablespoon baking power, dash o salt, almost full stick o butter.
3b. mix dry ingredients,, cut butter in, roll out two (60/40) portions to fit your cast iron skillet. grease skillet and put bottom crust part in.
4. Cut up 3 small onions, start in skillet. cut up 3 large carrots, in the skillet. salt. cook 5 min.
5. cut up three celery spears, in the skillet 5 min.
6. chop up bunch o garlic, in the skillet, few more min. add chicken to the skillet. add seasoning. (old bay, onion power, pepper, MSG, Italian seasoning) cook till hot.
7. add filling to mixing bowl.
8. ladle out 5 cups of chicken broth from your crock pot. heat to a boil, thicken with corn starch (dissolve in water first) add to filling.
9. pour in your filling into your crust. cover with other half of crust. make a slit for bubbling
10. cook covered for 30min @ 375. uncover, cook another 20-30 min till brown.
yum.
strain leftover chicken stock, and freeze for later use in soups/gravy/etc.
schrodinger's cat
@Schlemizel: How have you been?
BTW, Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian is a great resource for vegetarian recipes.
Allen
I’m like you, the only way my dad would eat spinach was canned, which I hated. It was only much, much later that I discovered fresh spinach which I loved. This is another much try.
Schlemizel
@schrodinger’s cat:
Still very little taste & have found that, without saliva, meat is uneatable. Not sure how much you know – I have another surgery next week Friday and another, bigger one, to look forward to after that. This is a food thread lets leave it there.
Gonna go find my spanikopita recipe – so many foods I love but this is in my top 100 8-{D
schrodinger's cat
@Schlemizel: Good luck with the surgeries. I am sending healing thoughts your way.
Mousebumples
I don’t have an out and out recipe to share, but I love making pizza (from scratch – including the dough … and I am willing to post the recipe, if there’s interest), and I’ve found that spinach is a great addition atop the sauce but beneath the cheese. Personally, if I add spinach as a “topping,” the leaves get more baked than I’d prefer. By putting it beneath the cheese – especially if I cut the spinach leaves into pieces with a French knife – it’s more of a “filling” (with the sauce) than a “topping.”
I’ve put all sorts of other “toppings” on the pizza – sausage, mushrooms, chicken, tomatoes (slices and diced), and more. It’s a favorite way of mine to get some of the wonderful nutrition value of spinach while still sticking with the “traditional” pizza toppings.
Thanks to everyone for all the great spinach recipes! :)
Omnes Omnibus
Wilted Spinach Salad (one of the only good ways to eat spinach)
6 cups (5-ounces) fresh spinach leaves, washed, dried, and chilled
2 slices bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/4 teaspoon coarse or sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon good-quality aged balsamic vinegar
Remove stems and veins from spinach and tear into bite-sized pieces; place spinach in a large bowl.
Fry bacon until crisp; remove from pan, leaving bacon fat in pan.
Return frying pan to medium heat; add oil, onion, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is slightly softened. Add balsamic vinegar; swirl to mix.
Pour warm dressing over spinach and toss gently to wilt (when properly wilted, the leaf edges soften slightly, but the spinach retains some crunch). Sprinkle bacon over spinach and serve immediately.
Schlemizel
Spanikopita
1 LB cooked spinach (at least!) well drained after cooking
you can use 2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 C crumbled feta cheese
1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (16 ounce) package whole wheat phyllo dough *see note
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Preheat an oven to 375 F (190 C). Combine the spinach, feta, mozzarella, garlic, and salt in a bowl.
Arrange one sheet of phyllo dough on a clean work surface and brush with melted butter. Place a second sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter, then place a third sheet on top. Cut the buttered phyllo lengthwise into four strips.
Place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture on the bottom of each strip. Take the bottom right corner and fold the dough over the filling to make a triangle. Imagine you are folding the flag. Continue folding until all the dough is folded.
Arrange the stuffed triangles, seam-side down, on lightly greased baking sheet. Lightly brush the triangle with butter. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and spinach filling.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.
* note on phyllo – extremely thin dough
You’ll find in the frozen section of the store. It seems to keep forever in the freezer but once thawed it will dry out.
If you are not familiar with working with phyllo read up or ask for help. If dough gets too dryit will be unworkable but you don’t have to worry about breaking or ripping it just stick it back together.
General Stuck
@Omnes Omnibus:
Stranger than fiction
MonkeyBoy
@Schlemizel:
Looks interesting. My recipe, when I can find it, also contains dill, lemon, eggs, and onions but no mozz or garlic.
Schlemizel
@MonkeyBoy:
I really love the lemon sauce.
Betsy
@ant: Sounds awesome, must try! But wait: in steps 3b and 4, you are sauteing the onions and other veg in the skillet but it already has crust in? Please instruct so I can get on this immediately!
waratah
My favorite way to cook fresh spinach is to melt a little butter in the pan add the fresh spinach and cook till just wilted. Then add good quality balsamic vinegar. Very quick and easy.
Bruce S
“Somebody has got to have a nice recipe for spinach and eggs. Yes?”
Yeah – scramble a couple of eggs (I use one yolk with three whites because of cholesterol paranoia) with some spinach – steamed or fresh – and add some grated parmesan and black pepper. Any leftover greens are great in an egg scramble or omelet. But parmesan is the key to bring it together.
Yutsano
Spanakopita must have garlic for me. And I do like the dill variation. One must aalso have tzatziki along with.
NotMax
Timbale aux Epinards
half-cup minced onion
4 tbl. butter
2 packs (10 oz. each) frozen* spinach (preferably already chopped), thawed and drained
1 cup milk
5 eggs
half-cup grated swiss or gruyere cheese
half-cup breadcrumbs
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
nutmeg (to taste)
Preheat oven to 325
Saute onion in 2 tbl. butter.
Press any additional water from spinach and, if not already chopped, chop it fine now and put into pot over low heat
Stir onions into spinach.
Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir together
Stir in remaining 2 tbl butter and milk
Stir in the cheese until it softens
Beat the eggs then beat them into the spinach mixture
Stir in breadcrumbs
Ready a loaf pan (butter sides if glass) and line bottom with waxed paper
Pour the spinach mixture into the loaf pan; set loaf pan into a larger pan of water
Bake 30 – 40 minutes. Will be very, very lightly browned on top when done
When done, remove from water and let stand on rack for a bit, then run sharp knife around edges, unmold onto plate and remove waxed paper.
Serve slices either hot or cold.
*yes, frozen. In this case, it does work better for getting a souffle-like texture.
MonkeyBoy
@NotMax:
Very similar to this random spanakopita recipe except with no wrapping, no dill, different cheese, and heavier on the eggs.
bemused senior
Here is my mom’s spanakopita recipe. You can roll up the traditional little triangles, but it can also be made as a casserole, with phyllo layers on bottom and top of the casserole. I make this in a 10×13″ casserole dish and use 4 leafs on bottom and top. Fold the layers to fill the bottom, butter with a pastry brush, and fold over the excess. Then take the next leaf to fill the other half, butter the two halves and fold the second sheet (which will fill the casserole). Thus two sheets make 3 layers; 4 sheets make 6 layers.
After making the bottom layer, pour in the filling and smooth it flat. Make the top layer of phyllo the same way as the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees till the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. (Alternative: roll 1/2 filling in the 6 layers stacked/buttered phyllo dough like a jelly roll, score at 1″ intervals, freeze. Remove 2 hours ahead, recut the scores 3/4 of the way down, bake.)
Here’s the filling:
Defrost and drain 20 oz. of frozen spinach. Saute 2 chopped onions in butter, with 1-2 tsp. of dill and a cube of chicken bouillon (optional). Mix spinach and onions, add 2 beaten eggs and 3 T grated parmesan. Add 1# of small curd cottage cheese and 1# crumbled feta cheese.
J.W. Hamner
I’m about to put spinach into my instant ramen, but that probably doesn’t count. To my credit I am jazzing the ramen up by starting making a pseudo-dashi with kombu, dried shiitakes, some chicken bullion, and miso paste. I’ll discard the kombu and slice the rehydrated mushrooms. I use that to boil my instant noodles and will finish with some fresh spinach and leftover sliced pork belly. Top with scallions and chili oil. Better than I managed with a 90 cent package of ramen in high school certainly.
ant
@Betsy:
use a diff skillet
Yutsano
@J.W. Hamner:
90 cent packages of ramen? Were you buying the top line stuff? :)
MonkeyBoy
@bemused senior:
If you jelly roll it won’t all the internal dough layers turn out soggy rather than the crispy texture that comes from fat on phyllo exposed to hot air?
One sometimes nearly identical version on spanakopita is the spinach croissant. In the good version you have a croissant baked with a spanakopita like filling much like like “pain au chocolate” is baked with a chocolate filling. The bad versions involve per-cooked croissants or heaven forbid Pillbury’s non-croissant refrigerated dough in a can.
In googling “spinach croissant” I came across these more distant variants on video: Turkish Ispanaklı Ayçöreği in which a cheeseless and eggless filling is rolled in an raised eggy dough and then formed into crescents sprinkled with sesame seeds, and Julia Child making a French turnover with spinach, mushrooms, and ham. (as much as I like Julia she often gave off the vibe of a big old lesbian with an obsessiveness fueled by cocaine)
MonkeyBoy
Aw fudge.
Any chance that FYWP can be upgraded to some version where it actually says what hidden faux-pas was transgressed?
Anne Laurie
@MonkeyBoy: Don’t we all wish. In your latest, the ‘quirk’ is that only three links per comment are permitted — and that includes the ‘reply-to’ link, if you use it. Workaround: Here at BJ we have no rule against multiple sequential comments from the same IP…
bemused senior
@MonkeyBoy: Unlikely that you’ll see this unless you have a comment RSS feed, but I just saw the comment after returning to the thread to cut and paste the recipe. Regarding the phyllo dough in the jelly roll form of my Mom’s spanakopita recipe — I have only made it that way once or twice. It still tastes good. It is a low labor way to make hors d’oeuvres for a crowd. I almost always make the casserole form, which disappears immediately at pot lucks and when served to company, including when lots of kids are present. Sure, the bottom layer isn’t crispy, but it is analogous to a bottom pie crust…it is tasty and makes a foundation for the filling. I have made it the traditional way for small parties, but it is a lot of work that I would prefer to spend making home-made dolmades. YMMV.