Baked Spinach

 

 This is how much spinach we buy at the store. (We sometimes get weird looks from the clerk.)

And this is why we buy so much.

The recipe that follows is from Smitten Kitchen, of course, and despite it requiring effort and my lack of free time this Fall, it has become part of our semi-regular rotation.  Mostly because of the hopeful glances and batting of eyelashes directed at me as we wander through the produce section.

Deb of SK combined the best elements of Julia Child's baked spinach recipes and came up with this.  If you'd like her full recipe, here's the link.  I've developed my own (lazy) habits when I make it, to make this more reasonable, so I'll write it out that way.  She serves with eggs, and I'll back her up that it's wonderful that way.  Or with another protein.  Or just on its own.  The crust.  Oh, the crust.

SK's Best Baked Spinach

4 bags fresh spinach

Chunk of gruyere (enough to be a couple of handfuls when grated)

2 tablespoons flour

a cup of breadcrumbs

about a cup of chicken stock or reserved spinach cooking liquid

Open bags, rinse and let bags drain in the sink.  Find the biggest pot you have.  Fit as much spinach as you can in the pot and steam just until spinach starts to wilt.  Kill the fire and let it wilt totally with the residual heat.  (Below is my attempt at cramming 4 bags of spinach into the pot.. never again.)

Remove spinach from pot and squeeze any excess water out of the leaves.  Roughly chop, if you're feeling fancy.  In the meantime, reserve the spinach liquid (make faces in the reflection!).

Melt some butter in a big pan over medium heat.  Toss in the spinach, sprinkle with flour, and let it cook off some water for just a couple of minutes, until it starts to stick.  At this point, you have options.  You can use about a cup of: A) the spinach liquid or B) stock (this is very nice), to deglaze the pot.  Let liquid of choice simmer to thicken for a few minutes until the excess evaporates.  In the meantime, grate your cheese.  Throw a handful of the cheese in the spinach, turn off the heat, mix, and pour into something bake-able that has a lot of surface area - you're going for big but relatively shallow.  Top with the rest of the cheese, the breadcrumbs, and sprinkle with about a tablespoon of melted butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 min, or until the crust looks crusty.